ARTICULATED ANIMALS.
§ I. _Annelida, or Ringed Animals._
[Illustration: WORMS. (_Vermes._)]
THESE creatures constitute a class by themselves, under the name of
_Annelida_, in the works of modern naturalists. They are distinguished
from the caterpillar and maggot, by undergoing no change, and crawling
by means of the annular structure of their bodies.
The _Earth Worm_ has neither bones, eyes, or ears; it has a round,
annulated body, with generally an elevated fleshy belt near the head.
Though considered a great nuisance by gardeners, Earth Worms perforate,
and loosen the soil, and render it pervious to rains and the fibres of
plants, by drawing into it straws and the stalks of leaves: and chiefly
by throwing infinite numbers of lumps called worm-casts, which form a
fine manure for grass and corn. They are, however, very injurious to
plants in pots.
[Illustration: THE LEECH, (_Sanguisuga officinalis_,)]
IS about three inches in length, and in its exterior form somewhat
resembles the worm, when extended, but often contracts itself greatly in
length, at the same time expanding in thickness. It has a small head, a
black skin, with six yellow lines above, and spotted with yellow below.
The mouth of the Leech is of curious construction; it has three jaws,
each of which is armed with two ranges of very fine teeth, with which it
pierces the skin; and then draws up, as through a siphon, the blood,
upon which it feeds. The progressive movement of the Leech is effected
by sticking, by suction, its mouth to a certain spot, then bringing its
tail, which also has the property of sticking, in the same manner as the
head, and then advancing its head further on, quickly followed by the
tail, and so on. The common Leech is very often met with in brooks and
rivulets. Its uses in medicine are well known, as by its means the blood
can be extracted from diseased parts, to which the lancet cannot be
applied.
The blood which the Leech sucks out of the wound it makes supplies it
with nutriment for so great a period of time, that a Leech, after having
been satisfied with blood, has been known to live three years withoutany food. It is usual, however, to make them disgorge the greater part
of the blood they have swallowed by sprinkling them with salt; as
otherwise they would not bite again till the blood they had taken was
fully digested.
Leeches lay eggs, which are covered with a kind of membrane, which
serves to protect them when they are deposited in the clay and holes in
the sides of ponds. They appear to live on the eggs of fish or frogs,
but eagerly attach themselves to the legs of human beings, horses, or
cows, whenever they have an opportunity. As there is a prejudice among
the country people that Leeches never breed well till they have tasted
blood, it is said that they drive their horses and cows into the water
inhabited by the Leeches, and consequently that the Leech districts are
remarkable for their wretched-looking horses and cattle. Leeches must be
five years old before they are fit for medical purposes; and they are
caught in shallow water in spring by people going in with naked feet and
ankles, to which the Leeches adhere, when they are picked off and put in
baskets provided for the purpose. In summer a raft is made of twigs, and
the waters being disturbed with a stick, the Leeches rise to the
surface, and get entangled in the raft. When caught, they are washed in
water with a very little salt in it, and packed in wet linen cloths,
which are put into a barrel with a canvas cover, and sent away for sale.
London used to be chiefly supplied from the fenny districts of
Lincolnshire, but the consumption of these useful worms has been so
great that most of our Leeches are now imported through Hambro’ from the
east of Europe. Some years since Dr. Pereira stated that the number of
Leeches imported by the four principal dealers in London amounted to
7,200,000 annually. They are also, when kept in a glass bottle with
water, a good barometer, as they always come up to the neck of the
bottle when rainy weather is approaching, remain at the bottom in dry
weather, and move anxiously up and down when the weather is stormy.
Horse-Leeches are larger than the common species, more voracious, and
narrower at each extremity.
§ II. _Crustacea._
[Illustration: THE LOBSTER, (_Astacus marinus_,)]
HAS a cylindrical body, long antennæ, and a broad tail. Its large claws
enable it to seize on its prey, to fix itself on the small prominences
of rocks in the sea, to resist the motion of the waves, and to defend
itself against its enemies. When the Lobster wants to spring off the
rocks, it makes a fulcrum of its tail, which has the action of a
powerful spring. Its gait is awkward, as in all the crustacea. Besides
its claws, it has four small legs on each side, to assist it in its
movements. Under the tail the hen Lobster preserves her eggs till they
are hatched. They are extremely prolific. Dr. Baxter says he counted
twelve thousand four hundred and forty-four eggs under the tail of a
female Lobster, besides those that remained in the body undeveloped.
Like the rest of their tribe, they cast their shells annually, previous
to which they appear languid and restless: they acquire an entirely new
covering in a few days.
[Illustration: THE CRAYFISH, (_Astacus fluviatilis_,)]
MAY be called the lobster of fresh water, and its presence is generally
esteemed an evidence of the goodness of the water. Crayfish are
considered a very strengthening food. They are caught in shallow brooks,
hid under large stones, out of which they crawl backwards to seek for
their prey, which consists of small insects; the hooks employed to catch
them are baited with liver or flesh, which they nibble most greedily.
[Illustration: THE CRAB. (_Cancer pagurus._)]
CRABS are of various sizes, some weighing several pounds, and others
only a few grains, all of different species. They do not move forward,
but sideways. They have a small tail closed on the body; which forms a
considerable and essential difference between them and the lobsters,
prawns, shrimps, and crayfish.
The most remarkable circumstance in the history of these animals is the
changing of their shells and the renewal of their broken claws. The
former, as it is stated, take place once a year, and usually between
Christmas and Easter. During the operation they retire among the
cavities of rocks, and under great stones. Crabs are naturally
quarrelsome amongst themselves, and frequently have serious contests, by
means of those formidable weapons, their great claws. With these they
lay hold of their adversary’s legs; and wherever they seize, it is not
easy to make them forego their hold. The animal seized has, therefore,
no other alternative but to leave part of the leg behind in token of
victory.
An experiment was tried to prove the extremely tenacious disposition of
the Crab. By irritating it, a fisherman made a Crab seize one of its own
small claws with a large one. The animal did not distinguish that it was
itself the aggressor, but exerted its strength, and soon cracked the
shell of the small claw. Feeling itself wounded, it cast off the piece
in the usual place, but continued to hold it with the great claw for a
long time afterwards.
[Illustration]
The _Violet Land-Crabs_ of the Caribbee Islands are most singular in
their habits; they descend in annual and regular caravans from the
mountains, their natural abode, to the sea-shores, in order to deposit
their spawn, after which they again return to the mountains. These Crabs
form, in their procession, a body of fifty paces broad, and three miles
in length. This battalion moves slowly, but with regularity and
uniformity, either when they descend or ascend the hills. They abound in
Jamaica, where they are accounted a great delicacy by the natives, and
are common in the adjacent islands.
[Illustration: THE SOLDIER CRAB, OE HERMIT CRAB,
(_Pagurus bempardus_,)]
IS a curious animal, and ought to be noticed here for its singular
habits. It is somewhat like a lobster divested of its shell; it is about
four inches in length, and has no shell on the hinder part, but is
covered down to the tail with a rough skin; it is also armed with strong
hard nippers. This Crab has not been provided by nature with a shell,
and is obliged to seek for one which has been deserted by its legitimate
tenant; but as this covering cannot grow of course proportionally with
him, he is forced out of it by his increasing size, and finds himself
under the necessity of looking out for a new one: it is curious to see
him when in want of a new house, crawling from one empty shell to
another, examining and trying his new habitation. Sometimes, when two
competitors happen to eye the same premises, a great contest arises, and
of course the strongest gets the manor.
[Illustration: 1. THE SHRIMP. (_Crangon vulgaris._)]
THE SHRIMP is a well-known small crustaceous animal, nearly allied to
the lobster, which it resembles in shape. Its length is rather more than
two inches; in colour it is greenish-grey, dotted with brown. It has
long slender feelers, between which are two projecting laminæ; ten feet
and five fins, but no claws. This animal breeds on all the sandy shores
of Great Britain: it is frequently found in harbours, and even in the
ditches and ponds of salt marshes; it is also very common on the French
coast. During life the body is semi-transparent, and so much resembles
sea-water that the animal is distinguished with difficulty. Its ordinary
motion consists of leaps. Its flavour is very delicate.
2. THE PRAWN. (_Palæmon serratus._)
THE PRAWN is not unlike the shrimp, but exceeds it considerably in size,
its length being between three and four inches. It has a projecting
ridge down the back, furnished with sharp teeth. Its natural colour is
greyish, with small red and brown spots, but when boiled it assumes a
most beautiful pink tint. The flesh is very delicate, although perhaps
inferior in flavour to that of the shrimp.
Prawns are very common on the coasts of France and England; they are
chiefly found among sea-weed, and in the vicinity of rocks, at a little
distance from the shore. They seldom enter the mouths of rivers. They
feed on all the smaller kinds of marine animals, which they seize and
devour with great voracity. In their turn, they are the prey of numerous
species of fish, although the sharp and serrated horn in front of their
head constitutes a powerful weapon of defence against the attacks of all
the smaller kinds. At the side of the head there is frequently to be
observed a large and apparently unnatural lump. This, if examined, will
be found to contain, under the thoracic plate, a species of parasitic
animal, which occupies the whole cavity, and there feeds and perfects
its growth. The same tumour or lump may also be observed on the shrimp.
Being in great request for the table, both shrimps and Prawns are
eagerly sought for by fishermen, who catch them either in osier baskets,
similar to those employed in catching lobsters, or in a kind of net
called a _Putting-net_. These, which are well known to all frequenters
of the sea-coast, are five or six feet in width, and flat at the bottom;
and are pushed along in the shallow water, upon the sandy shores, by a
man who walks behind. There is a great number of other species belonging
to the same family as the shrimp and prawn, but they are for the most
part inhabitants of foreign seas, and what other British species exist
are rare in comparison to the two we have described.
Fossil crustaceans, which are apparently members of the same family,
have also been found in France and Germany.
§ III. _Arachnida._
THIS ORDER, according to Lamarck, and other modern zoologists, contains
the Spiders, Scorpions, and Mites, which do not undergo any
metamorphoses. These creatures differ from the true insects in the
number of their feet, which are generally eight, while those of the true
insects never exceed six.
[Illustration: THE GARDEN SPIDER. (_Epeïra diadema._)]
ALL the Spiders are distinguished by having no antennæ, eight legs, and
generally eight eyes; mandibles terminated by a movable claw, which
sometimes emits poison; and an abdomen without rings, furnished at its
point with four or six spinnerets, from which the Spider emits the
threads used in spinning its web. This web is wonderful in its
formation. It consists of a number of stout threads radiating from the
centre to various objects in the neighbourhood, and crossed by a great
quantity of finer threads arranged in a close spiral, so as to produce
the impression of a number of concentric circles. These fine threads are
braided and glutinous, so that any unfortunate fly that comes in contact
with them adheres readily:
“The Spider’s touch, how exquisitely fine!
Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.”
POPE.
The Spider sits in the middle, and at the least motion caused by a fly
or other insect pressing against it, rushes on his prey, and sucks its
juices; if, however, it should appear at all formidable, the Spider
carefully encloses it in a shroud of web, which, of course, quite
disables it; and then feasts on it at his convenience. The most
difficult part of the business is to eject the remains, which is often
attended with great detriment to the net. The female generally lays from
nine hundred to a thousand eggs, which are contained in a kind of bag,
and thus an immense number of Spiders are hatched every year, which
would soon become troublesome from their numbers, if they were not kept
in check by the numerous birds which prey upon them. The silk which the
Spider produces is not strong enough to be employed for any useful
purposes, though, out of curiosity, gloves and stockings have been woven
out of it. A great difficulty, however, arises in the pugnacious habits
of Spiders, as, when a number of them are kept together, they fight so
dreadfully, that in a short time only a very few are left alive; and a
great number would be required, as twelve Spiders do not produce so much
silk as a single silkworm. Spiders resemble the crustacea in having the
power of reproducing the legs which they lose.
THE HOUSE SPIDER, (_Tegenaria domestica_,)
IS a very different species from the Garden Spider. It dwells in the
dark corners of houses and outbuildings, forming a dingy web of
irregular threads, all of which communicate with a concealed chamber or
den in which the Spider lurks.
THE DIVING SPIDER, (_Argyroneta aquatica_,)
IS another kind, which forms a sort of tent by stretching its threads
between the stems of aquatic plants far below the surface. In this den
it dwells, and here it devours the prey which it captures during its
excursions; and in order to provide a stock of air for its respiration,
it carries down successive small portions entangled amongst the hairs of
its abdomen. This process is exactly similar to that by which
diving-bells used to be supplied with air, and indeed the dome-like
habitation of this Spider is constructed precisely on the same principle
as the diving-bell.
There are also several kinds of _Water Mites_, the most abundant of
which is of a rich red colour, and grows to nearly the bulk of a pea. It
may commonly be seen swimming among the plants in pools and ditches.
[Illustration: THE TARANTULA. (_Lycosa Tarantula._)]
THIS Spider is a native of the South of Europe. It lives in fields, and
its dwelling is about four inches deep in the ground, half an inch wide,
and closed at the mouth with a net. They lay about seven hundred and
thirty eggs, which are hatched in the spring. These Spiders do not live
quite a year; the parents never survive the winter.
Inflammation, difficulty of breathing, and sickness, are said to be the
inevitable consequences of the bite of this animal. Dr. Mead, and other
medical men, have countenanced the popular story of these effects being
counteracted by the power of music. It is, however, now well known, that
this singular mode of cure was nothing more than a trick frequently
practised on credulous travellers, who were desirous of witnessing it.
Mr. Swinburne, when he was in Italy, minutely investigated every
particular relative to the Tarantula. The season was not far enough
advanced, and it was pretended that no persons had as yet been bitten
that year: he, however, prevailed upon a woman, who had formerly been
bitten, to dance the part before him. Several musicians were summoned,
and she performed the dance, as everyone present assured him, to
perfection. At first she lolled stupidly on a chair, while the
instruments played a dull strain. They touched at length the chord
supposed to vibrate to her heart; and up she sprung with a hideous yell,
staggered about the room like a drunken person, holding a handkerchief
in both hands, raising them alternately, and moving in very true time.
As the music grew brisker, her motions quickened, and she skipped about
with great vigour, and in a variety of steps, every now and then
shrieking very loud. The scene was unpleasant, and, at his request, an
end was put to it before the woman was tired.
He informs us, that, whenever they are to dance, a place is prepared for
them, hung round with bunches of grapes and ribbons. The patients are
dressed in white, with red, green, or yellow ribbons; on their shoulders
they have a white scarf; they let their hair fall loose about their
ears, and throw the head quite back. He says that they are exact copies
of the ancient priestesses of Bacchus. The introduction of Christianity
abolished all public exhibitions of heathenish rites; but the women,
unwilling to give up their darling amusement, in performing the frantic
character of Bacchantes, devised other pretences; and he supposes that
accident led them to the discovery of the Tarantula, of which they took
advantage for that purpose.
THE CHEESE MITE. (_Acarus siro._)
THESE destructive little creatures differ from spiders in having the
thorax and abdomen united and covered with the same skin, though it is
contracted in one part. They have also, when young, only six legs,
though the two others appear afterwards; and their feet are armed with
strong hooks, which enable them to retain hold of the cheese or other
food, in which they take up their abode. Their bodies are covered with
hair, and their mouths are furnished with strong mandibles, with which
they soon hew down huge rocks and mountains of cheese. The eggs of these
Mites are so small, that it has been computed that a pigeon’s egg would
contain thirty millions of them. It must be observed that this Mite is
only found in dry cheese, in which it looks like reddish dust. The
cheese-hopper, found in moist rotten cheese, is the maggot of a kind of
fly. (_Piophila Casei._)
§ IV. _Insects._
INSECTS have all six legs and two antennæ or feelers; and though the
transformations they undergo differ slightly in the different kinds, the
following is the order in which they occur:--The perfect insect lays
eggs, which when hatched produce larvæ; and which are called grubs when
they belong to beetles, maggots to flies, and caterpillars to
butterflies and moths. These larvæ eat voraciously; and as they rapidly
increase in size, they generally moult, that is, change their skins, two
or three times. When the larvæ are full grown, they go into the pupa
state, in which they remain torpid and without food for a considerable
length of time, sometimes first spinning a loose covering for the pupa
called a cocoon. The pupa is generally called a chrysalis; but it is
also sometimes called a nymph, and sometimes an aurelia. The last
transformation is when the insect breaks from its covering in a perfect
form, when it is called the imago. There are, however, some insects
which are active throughout their lives, and in these the larvæ and pupæ
are very similar to the perfect insect. The perfect insect is divided
into three segments, or parts, called the head, the thorax, and the
abdomen.
ORDER I. _Coleoptera, or Beetles._
THE larva of the beetle is a grub, which often continues in that state
three or four years, eating voraciously during the whole period. When
full grown it in most cases either descends into the ground, where it
undergoes its transformations, first into a nymph, or pupa, and then
into a beetle; or it makes itself a rough cocoon of bits of stick and
dead leaves, in which it changes into a pupa, and afterwards into a
beetle. The wood-eating beetles undergo their transformations in the
tree on which they feed. The pupa of the beetle is termed incomplete,
because all the parts of the insect are visible in it, instead of being
enclosed in one thick covering, as in the moths and butterflies. The
head of the beetle is furnished with two compound eyes; two antennæ
(differing in shape in the various species, but having usually eleven
joints); and a mouth, consisting of a labrum, or upper lip, a labium, or
under lip, two mandibles, or upper jaws, and two maxillæ, or under jaws.
There is also the mentum, or chin, and a part called the clypeus, to
which the upper lip is attached.
The thorax is the part which supports the legs and wings. The legs are
divided into five portions, of which the part terminated by the claw is
called the tarsus. There are two membranous wings, covered by two
hardened wings or wing-cases, called the elytra, which generally open by
a straight line down the back; and hence the name of Coleoptera, which
signifies wing in a case: the abdomen is simply the body.
The number of beetles is very great, and indeed Mr. Westwood informs us
that more than thirty thousand species have been described, of which
about three thousand five hundred are natives of Britain.
[Illustration: THE COCKCHAFER. (_Melolontha vulgaris._)]
THE COCKCHAFER is one of the lamellicorn beetles. The female lays her
eggs in the ground, and the grubs, when hatched, are soft, thick, and
whitish. It is from its white appearance that the grub of the Cockchafer
is called _le ver blanc_ by the French. These grubs, sometimes in
immense numbers, work between the turf and the soil in the richest
meadows, devouring the roots of the grass to such a degree that the turf
rises, and will roll up with almost as much ease as if it had been cut
with a turfing knife; the soil underneath appearing, for more than an
inch in depth, like the bed of a garden. In this the grubs lie, on their
backs, in a curved position, the head and tail uppermost, and the rest
of the body buried in the mould. It is also said that a whole field of
fine flourishing grass has become, in a few weeks, withered, dry, and as
brittle as hay, in consequence of these grubs devouring the roots.
In the year 1688 great numbers of Cockchafers appeared on the hedges and
trees of the south-west coast of the county of Galway, in clusters of
thousands, clinging to each others’ backs, in the manner of bees when
they swarm. During the day they continued quiet, but towards sunset the
whole were in motion; and the humming noise of their wings sounded like
distant drums. Their numbers were so great that, for the space of two or
three square miles, they entirely darkened the air. Persons travelling
on the roads, or who were abroad in the fields, found it difficult to
make their way home, as the insects were continually beating against
their faces, and occasioned great pain. In a very short time the leaves
of all the trees, for several miles round, were destroyed, leaving the
whole country, though it was near midsummer, as naked and desolate as it
would have been in the middle of winter. The noise which these enormous
swarms made, in seizing and devouring the leaves, was so loud, as to be
compared to the distant sawing of timber. Swine and poultry destroyed
them in vast numbers; waiting under the trees for the clusters of
insects to drop, and then devouring such swarms as to become fat upon
them alone. Even the native Irish, from the insects having eaten up the
whole produce of the ground, adopted a mode of cooking them, and thus
used them as food. Towards the end of the summer they disappeared so
suddenly that in a few days there was not one left.
Rooks are very fond of eating these grubs, and often, when they are seen
in a newly-sown field, apparently devouring the grain, they are, in
fact, rendering the greatest service to the farmer, by destroying his
great enemy, the white worm.
THE DOR, OR BLIND BEETLE.
(_Geotrupes stercorarius._)
THIS well-known insect, which is sometimes also called “the shard-borne
beetle,” has been often noticed by the poets. Amongst others,
Shakespeare makes Macbeth say:
“Ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-borne beetle, with its drowsy hum,
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”
This beetle, which is a British insect, lays its eggs in a mass of
cow-dung, which it afterwards buries in the earth. It makes a dull
drowsy noise when it flies, and often strikes itself against any person
or object it may meet, as though it were blind. It has also the habit of
stretching out its limbs and pretending to be dead when caught.
[Illustration: THE STAG BEETLE. (_Lucanus cervus._)]
“See the proud giant of the beetle race;
What shining arms his polished limbs encase!
Like some stern warrior, formidably bright,
His steely sides reflect a gleamy light;
On his large forehead spreading horns he wears,
And high in air the branching antlers bears;
O’er many an inch extends his wide domain,
And his rich treasury swells with hoarded grain.”
BARBAULD.
THIS insect is the largest, and most singular in shape, of any in this
country. It is known by two horn-like mandibles, projecting from its
head, and resembling those of a stag, with which it is able to pinch
very severely. These mandibles are strongly dentated from the root to
the point. The wing-cases have neither streaks nor spots. The whole
insect is of a deep brown. It is sometimes found in hollow oaks and
beeches, near London.
The larvæ, or grubs, lodge under the bark, or in the hollow of old
trees; which they bite and reduce to fine powder. The larvæ are supposed
to exist three or four years before they form their cocoons. These
insects are mostly found in Kent and Sussex. In Germany there is a
popular but idle notion, that they sometimes, by means of their jaws,
carry burning coals into houses; and that, in consequence of this
mischievous propensity, dreadful fires have been occasioned. The Stag
Beetle is one of the lamellicorn Coleoptera.
[Illustration: THE ELEPHANT BEETLE,
(_Scarabæus_, or _Dynastes Elephas_,)]
IS found in South America, particularly in Guiana and Surinam, as well
as near the river Orinoko. It is one of the largest beetles of its kind;
it is black, and the whole body is covered with a very hard shell, quite
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 large horn on the head (from the resemblance of which
to the proboscis of an elephant, and its great size, the beetle has
obtained its name) four inches and three quarters. The transverse
diameter of the body is two inches and a quarter; and the breadth of
each case, for the wings, upwards of an inch. The horns are about an
inch long, and terminate in points. The head-horn is an inch and a
quarter long, and turns upwards, making a crooked line terminating in
two horns, each of which is nearly a quarter of an inch long. Above the
head is a prominence, 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 named after that animal, whose lower horn
resembles this: its scientific name is _Oryctes Rhinoceros_.
[Illustration: THE MUSK BEETLE, OR GOAT CHAFFER.
(_Cerambyx moschatus_, or _Aromia moschata_.)]
THIS is one of the longicorn beetles. It is a very beautiful insect, of
a glossy bluish-green colour, with a cast of shining gold; the under
part of the body is bluish. It is about an inch and a half in length,
and is elongated in form, its breadth being small in proportion to its
length; the wings under the case are black; the legs are of the same
bluish-green colour, only somewhat paler; and the breast is pointed at
each extremity. Between these points are three little tubercles near the
wings, and three smaller towards the head. The cases of the wings are
oblong, and somewhat in the shape of a lance, with three ribs a little
raised, and running lengthwise. The feelers are as long as the body,
composed of many joints, which grow smaller near the ends. This Beetle
is very common in the south of England, and is chiefly to be found on
old pollard willows. It emits a strong and agreeable odour, which is not
unlike attar of roses. It certainly has not the slightest resemblance to
musk, though those who named it appear to have thought that it had.
[Illustration: THE GROUND BEETLE. (_Carabus clathratus._)]
THE GROUND BEETLE is not only one of the largest, but the most beautiful
and brilliant that this country produces. The head, breast, and
wing-cases are of a coppery green; the latter having three longitudinal
rows of oblong raised spots. All the under part of the insect is black.
Having only very short wings beneath the cases, Nature has
providentially supplied it with such legs as enable it to run with
amazing swiftness. This insect is frequently found in damp places, under
stones and heaps of decayed plants in gardens. There are several
species, one of which (_Carabus violaceus_) is of a beautiful purple.
The larvæ live under ground, or in decayed wood, where they remain until
metamorphosed to their perfect state, when they proceed to devour the
larvæ of other insects, and all weaker animals that they can conquer.
The Ground Beetles are found as early as the beginning of March, in
paths and near old walls, where the sun warms the earth with its
vivifying beams. Many of the large species have been found between the
decayed bark and wood of willow trees.
[Illustration: THE GLOWWORM. (_Lampyris noctiluca._)]
IT is only the female Glowworm which produces the beautiful light for
which the insect is so well known, and she frequently communicates this
light to her eggs. She is without wings or wing-cases, and possesses no
beauty when seen by daylight. The male has wings, and leathery elytra.
The larva is a very ugly and very voracious grub, which feeds greedily
on snails and slugs.
[Illustration: THE DEATH-WATCH. (_Anobium tesselatum._)]
THIS creature is called the Death-Watch, from a superstitious notion
that, when its beating is heard, it is a sign that some one in the house
is going to die. The insect lives in wood, and the noise is produced by
its striking its head against whatever is near it. These insects, in the
larva state, do a great deal of mischief to old furniture, in which they
perforate numerous round holes. To enable them to do this they are
furnished with two maxillæ formed like two cutting pincers, with the
help of which they bore the holes so neatly that the French call them
_vrillettes_, from _vrille_, a gimlet. They also perforate books in the
same way, and thus do much damage in old libraries:
“Insatiate brute, whose teeth abuse
The sweetest servants of the muse!
His roses nipt in every page,
My poor Anacreon mourns thy rage;
By thee my Ovid wounded lies;
By thee my Lesbia’s sparrow dies;
Thy rabid teeth have half destroyed
The work of love in Biddy Floyd;
They rent Belinda’s locks away,
And spoiled the Blouzelind of Gay;
For all, for every single deed,
Relentless justice bids thee bleed.
Then fall a victim to the Nine,
Myself the priest, my desk the shrine.”
PARNELL.
Sometimes two of these insects may be heard ticking, answering each
other; and sometimes the Death-Watch may be made to tick by tapping with
the finger-nail upon a table. These creatures imitate death with great
exactness when they are caught, or when they think themselves in
danger.
THE SPANISH FLY, OR CANTHARIS.
(_Cantharis vesicatoria._)
THESE insects are found but rarely in this country; they are more common
in France, but Spain, Italy, and Russia seem to be their favourite
localities. They make their appearance in July, and are generally found
upon ash trees, the leaves of which form their food. They are of great
commercial importance, for they are found very useful in medicine on
account of their remarkable blistering powers. They have a very
disagreeable smell, and emit a fluid of so corrosive a nature that many
persons have suffered greatly from gathering them; and it is said to be
extremely dangerous to sleep under a tree infested by them, as their
smell produces a lethargic sleep, which frequently terminates in death.
They are generally caught by laying linen cloths under the trees they
infest, and beating the boughs; they are then put into hair sieves, and
held over vessels of boiling vinegar, till the vapour kills them. After
this they are dried in ovens, or on hurdles, exposed to the sun, and
then packed up for sale. When dried, fifty of them hardly weigh a
drachm, but they do not lose their medicinal properties by age unless
allowed to get damp. Though bearing the name Spanish Flies, the greatest
quantity is obtained from St. Petersburg, the Russian insects being
considered the best.
They are of a highly poisonous nature, and there are many instances,
some even recent, of their producing violent hemorrhage and death.
[Illustration: THE CORN-WEEVIL. (_Calandra granaria._)]
THIS is a little beetle about an eighth of an inch in length, of a
reddish-brown colour, with a slender proboscis projecting from the
front of the head, at the extremity of which the mouth is situated. As
this proboscis is not thicker than a fine needle, our readers may form
some notion of the minute size of the jaws with which the mouth is
furnished; nevertheless, they are sufficiently powerful to enable the
little creature to eat corn and biscuit. In the larva state they are
exceedingly destructive to corn in granaries, sometimes abounding to
such an extent in a heap of grain as to leave nothing of it but the
husks.
There are an immense number of Weevils, all of which have the front of
the head elongated into a proboscis or beak. A very common one is the
_Nut-Weevil_ (_Balaninus micum_), which has a very long and slender
beak; with this the female eats into the soft shells of young nuts, and
deposits her eggs in the hole; the grubs devour the kernel of the nut,
and leave nothing but dust in the interior of the shell.
[Illustration: THE LADY BIRD, OR LADY COW.
(_Coccinella septem-punctata._)]
THE larva of this well-known and beautiful little beetle is disagreeable
and almost disgusting in its appearance; but to compensate for this it
is extremely useful in destroying the aphis, or green fly. In the
perfect insect the elytra are scarlet, beautifully spotted with black;
some species having seven, and others five spots, and one of the most
beautiful, eighteen. The head is very small, the antennæ and legs very
short, and the body nearly round. This beetle is generally regarded with
much favour in almost all countries, and in Catholic times was in a
manner dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Hence its name of Lady Bird.
ORDER II. _Orthoptera._
IN this order the elytra, or wing-cases, are much softer and more
flexible than in the beetles; they are frequently membranous or webbed,
and when closed they do not form a straight line down the back. The
mouth is also different; the maxillæ being terminated by a horny,
toothed piece called the galea. There is also a kind of tongue, and the
metamorphosis is incomplete.
[Illustration: THE EARWIG. (_Forficula auricularia._)]
_Unlike_ most other insects, the female Earwig watches over her eggs
until they are hatched, and afterwards attends upon her young progeny
for some time. At the beginning of the month of June, M. de Geer found,
under a stone, a female Earwig, accompanied by many little ones,
evidently her young. They continued close to her, and often placed
themselves under her body, as chickens do under a hen.
This little animal is very nimble, and perfectly harmless, except to
flowers, notwithstanding the fabulous charge which was so long believed
against it, of its entering the human ear, and depositing its eggs
there, which were said to cause intolerable pain when hatched, and the
young began to gnaw the inside of the ear. The Earwig possesses wings,
which, when extended, cover nearly the whole insect. The elytra, or
wing-cases, are short, and do not extend along the whole body, but only
over the breast. The wings are concealed beneath these, and are somewhat
of an oval shape. There is great elegance in the manner in which the
insect folds its wings beneath its elytra.
THE BLACK BEETLE, OR COCKROACH,
(_Blatta Orientalis_,)
SO common in London kitchens, is nearly allied to the Earwig.
[Illustration: THE LEAF MANTIS. (_Empusa gongylodes._)]
THIS insect is remarkably shaped. The head is joined to the body by a
neck, longer than the rest of the body. It has two polished eyes, and
two short feelers. This neck consists of the first segment of the waist
or thorax. The wing-cases, which cover two-thirds of the body, are
veined and reticulated, or netted. The wings are veined and transparent.
The hinder legs are very long, the next shorter; and the foremost pair
of thighs are terminated with spines: the others have membranous lobes,
which serve them as wings in their flight. The top of the head is
membranous, shaped like an awl, and divided at its extremity. This
animal is one of the innumerable instances which Nature affords of the
infinite wisdom of the Creator; for, whenever an animal is found to
deviate in shape from the general system, it is still formed to answer
the design of its existence. Thus this insect, having such long legs,
could never have sustained itself in the air had not Providence bestowed
on the legs themselves a species of wings to balance their weight. These
are instances with which Nature teems; and which would make the atheist
tremble did he but contemplate the admirable design and system with
which they are characterised as
“Parts of one stupendous whole;
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.”
These insects are partly of a pale yellowish green, and partly brown; so
that they look like dead leaves, whence their English name. They are
found in the East Indies and China.
[Illustration]
THE ordinary Mantides, or _Praying Insects_, as they are sometimes
called, from their apparently devotional attitudes, resemble the species
just described in their general structure, but are seldom furnished with
so long a neck and so leaf-like a body. They carry the head erect, and
the long fore-feet, which shut together like a clasp-knife, are used in
catching their prey; it is while thus engaged that their postures have
been considered to resemble an attitude of devotion.
[Illustration: THE WALKING LEAF, (_Phyllium siccifolium_,)]
HAS a shorter neck than the Mantis, and its fore-legs are not
constructed as claspers, but the body is very flat and leaf-like, and
the wing-cases are veined so as to look exactly like a leaf; indeed, if
seen adhering motionless to the branch of a tree, it would certainly be
mistaken for a leaf. They are found in the East Indies. It is curious
that while these creatures present such a deceptive resemblance to
leaves, there are some near relatives of theirs which are equally
similar to sticks and twigs, so that the semblance of a leafy branch
might easily be made by fixing the former upon the latter. Some of these
_Walking Sticks_ are eight or nine inches in length, and the whole body
and legs are of precisely the colour and texture of bark.
[Illustration: THE GRASSHOPPER, (_Locusta flavipes_,)]
IS of a green colour, with the wing-cases brown, and the head somewhat
resembling that of a horse; the corselet is armed with a strong buckler.
Of its six legs the hinder two are much longer than the others, to
assist the insect in leaping. The male makes a chirping noise, which is
caused by the thighs being rubbed against the sides of the wing-cases:
if handled roughly, the Grasshopper bites very sharply.
Toward the end of autumn the female deposits her eggs in a hole, which
she makes in the earth for the purpose. These eggs sometimes amount to a
hundred and fifty; they are about the size of caraway-seeds, white,
oval, and of a horny substance. The female, having thus performed her
duty, soon languishes and dies. In the beginning of May following a
small white larva issues out of each egg. The creature passes about
twenty days under this humble form; after which, having assumed the
pupa shape, while all the rudiments of the future Grasshopper are
concealed under a thin outward skin, it retires under a thistle or a
thorn-bush, most likely in order to be more secure; and there, after a
variety of laborious exertions, writhings, and palpitations, the
temporary covering divides, and the insect jumps out of its _exuviæ_.
[Illustration: THE LOCUST. (_Locusta migratoria._)]
THE Bible, which was written in a country where the Locust made a
distinguished figure among natural productions, has given us several
very striking images of these animals’ numbers and rapacity. It compares
an army 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 as the frequent instruments of Divine
indignation.
The native countries of the Locust are Central Asia and the North of
Africa, but they migrate every year to Europe, where they destroy every
green thing they meet with. Other species of Locusts are met with in
various parts of the world, which, like the true migratory Locust, pass
from place to place in vast flocks, causing immense damage wherever they
take up their temporary abode.
When the Locusts take the field they have a leader at their head, whose
flight they observe, and to whose motions they pay a strict attention.
They appear at a distance like a black cloud, which, as it approaches,
gathers upon the horizon, and almost hides the light of the day. It
often happens that the husbandman sees this imminent calamity pass away
without doing him any mischief; and the whole swarm proceed onward, to
settle upon the labours of some less fortunate country. But wretched is
the district upon which they fix; they ravage the meadow and the corn
land; strip the trees of their leaves, and the gardens of their beauty;
the visitation of a few minutes destroys the expectations of a year; and
a famine but too frequently ensues. In their native climates they are
not so injurious as in the south of Europe, for in Syria and Palestine,
though the plain and the forest be stripped of their verdure, the power
of vegetation is so great, that an interval of three or four days
repairs the calamity; but our verdure is the produce of a season; and we
must wait till the ensuing spring repairs the damage. Besides, in their
long flights to this part of the world, the Locusts are famished 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 contaminates the
plant, and injures its future 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. And if so 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 insupportable.
In the year 1690 clouds of Locusts were seen to enter Russia in three
different places; and 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 to the depth of four feet; in others
they covered the surface like a black cloth: the trees bent beneath
their weight, and the damage which the country sustained exceeded
computation. In Barbary their numbers are formidable, and their visits
frequent. In the year 1724 Dr. Shaw was a witness of their devastations
in that country. Their first appearance 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 much 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
disappear, retiring into the plains to deposit their eggs. In the next
month, being June, the young brood began to make their appearance,
forming many compact bodies of several hundred yards square; which,
marching forward, climbed the trees, walls, and houses, eating
everything that was green in their way:
“---- To their general’s voice they soon obeyed
Innumerable. As when the potent rod
Of Amram’s son, in Egypt’s evil day,
Waved round the coast, upcalled a pitchy cloud
Of Locusts, warping on the eastern wind,
That o’er the plains of impious Pharaoh hung
Like night, and darkened all the land of Nile;
So numberless were those bad angels seen,
Hovering on wings, under the cope of Hell,
’Twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires.”
MILTON.
[Illustration: THE MOLE CRICKET. (_Gryllotalpa vulgaris._)]
THE two fore-feet of this insect, placed very near the head, are short
and broad, and, like those of the mole, are contrived to help the insect
in burrowing under ground. The Mole Cricket is very destructive in
gardens, as it attacks the roots of young plants, and causes them soon
to rot and die. The female forms a nest of clammy earth, in which she
lays from two to four hundred eggs. The nest is carefully closed up on
every side, to secure the brood from the incursions of grubs and other
subterraneous depredators. The song of the Mole Cricket is a low, dull,
jarring note, which is continued for a long time with great
pertinacity.
[Illustration: THE CRICKET. (_Acheta domesticata._)]
THE domestic Crickets generally inhabit houses, selecting for their
place of retirement the chimneys or backs of ovens; and feeding upon
anything that comes in their way, flour, bread, meat, and especially
sugar, of which they seem to be particularly fond. The chirping noise,
which they make nearly without intermission, proceeds only from the
males, who produce it by rubbing the bases of their wing-cases one over
the other.
Crickets are generally of a brown rusty colour, and the organ of vision
appears in them to be very weak and imperfect, as they find their way
much better in the dark than when dazzled by the sudden light of a
candle. The Field Cricket (_A. campestris_) has the same form, but is of
a different species to the House Cricket, and is black, with a fine
gloss. Its noise is heard at a great distance, and is so similar to that
of the grasshopper, that it is difficult to distinguish one from the
other.
ORDER III. _Hemiptera._
THESE insects have neither mandibles nor maxillæ, but in lieu of them
they have a tubular articulated rostrum, adapted for suction. Insects
thus formed are called haustellated. The four wings are all membranous,
but the outer ones are leathery at the base. Some of the species are
without wings. The antennæ are often small, and sometimes scarcely
perceptible. The metamorphoses of these insects are incomplete.
[Illustration: THE LANTERN FLY. (_Fulgora laternaria._)]
THIS Lantern Fly is a nocturnal insect, with a hood or bladder on the
head, which is semi-transparent, and very curiously ornamented with red
and green stripes. By some writers it has been affirmed that this part
of the insect shines brilliantly at night, so that it is even possible
to read by it. No modern entomologist has, however, witnessed this
phenomenon, and it is generally believed that the supposed luminosity of
the Lantern Fly exists only in the stories of the natives of South
America. The wings and whole body are elegantly adorned with a mixture
of red, green, yellow, and other splendid colours.
[Illustration: THE COCHINEAL INSECT. (_Coccus cacti._)]
THE Cochineal Insect is of the same genus as the scale insect on the
vine, which looks like a little bit of wool attached to the branch, but
which, when pressed, stains the fingers with a red liquid. The Cochineal
Insect in the like manner affixes itself to the leafy stems of the
nopal-tree, a kind of opuntia, or prickly-pear, common in Mexico and
South America, whence the Cochineal used in Europe is principally
imported.
When the Mexicans have gathered the Cochineal Insects, they put them
into holes in the ground, where they kill them with boiling water, and
afterwards dry them in the sun; or they kill them by putting them into
an oven, or laying them upon hot plates. From the various methods of
killing them arise the different colours in which they appear when
brought to us. While they are living, they seem to be sprinkled over
with a white powder, which they lose when the boiling water is poured
upon them, but preserve when killed in an oven. Those dried upon hot
plates are the best.
The quantity of Cochineal annually exported from Mexico and South
America is said to be worth more than five hundred thousand pounds
sterling--a vast sum to arise from so minute an insect; and the present
annual consumption of Cochineal in England has been estimated at about
one hundred and fifty thousand pounds weight. The Mexicans think so
highly of their trade in this insect, that the republic has adopted the
nopal-tree as part of its arms.
It is for dyeing scarlet that Cochineal is chiefly in demand; but,
although a peculiarly brilliant dye is now obtained from it, this
substance gave only a dull crimson colour until a chemist of the name of
Kuster, who lived at Bow, near London, about the middle of the
seventeenth century, discovered the art of preparing it with a solution
of tin. Cochineal, if kept in a dry place, may be preserved without
injury for a great length of time. An instance has been mentioned of
some of this dye, one hundred and thirty years old, having been found to
produce the same effect as though it had been perfectly fresh.
[Illustration: THE PLANT LOUSE, OR GREEN FLY. (_Aphis._)]
THE APHIDES are sometimes viviparous, and at other times oviparous,
according to the season of the year. Those of the rose-tree have been
particularly noticed, and of ten generations produced in one spring,
summer, and autumn, the first nine were viviparous, and the last
oviparous. The first nine generations consisted of females only; but in
the tenth there were males. In this singular aberration from the common
laws of nature this insect is a remarkable anomaly. They multiply at
such an extraordinary rate--the whole ten generations within three
months--that from a single Aphis ten thousand million millions may be
produced in that short period, and it has been calculated that the
progeny of a single Aphis during a single summer, supposing its
multiplication to be subject to no check, might exceed in weight the
entire human population of China.
The moss-rose, the hop, the vine, the apple-tree, the bean, the willow,
and privet, are all particularly liable to be infested with this insect;
the various species of which take their names according to the plants on
which they are usually found. The red tumours, commonly called galls,
which are seen on the surfaces of leaves, especially on those of the
willow, varying from the size of a ladybird to that of a pigeon’s egg,
are produced by Aphides, and contain thousands of small lice. From a
pair of small tubes placed near the end of the body of these insects
exudes a saccharine fluid, of which ants are very fond; and it is this
fluid dropped upon the adjacent leaves, or the extravasated sap flowing
from the wounds caused by the punctures of the insects, which is known
under the name of honeydew.
After a mild spring, most of the species of Aphis become so numerous as
to destroy all the young shoots of the plants on which they are found.
No successful mode of destroying them has yet been discovered, but the
best remedy against them is to wash the infested shoots with tobacco
water or soap lees; and to repeat the operation when any Aphides are
seen.
ORDER IV. _Neuroptera._
THESE insects have four transparent wings, strongly and beautifully
varied, so as to resemble net-work. The mouth has mandibles and maxillæ.
The abdomen of the female has neither ovipositor nor sting.
[Illustration: THE ANT-LION. (_Myrmeleon formicarium._)]
THIS insect is hatched from an egg laid in soft moving ground, or sand;
the larva soon increases in size, and assumes the shape of a small
spider--with this difference, that the legs are constructed in such a
way that it can only proceed backwards or sideways. The abdomen is very
large and fleshy; and the head, which is small, is armed with two long
jaws like horns, somewhat resembling those of the stag-beetle. What must
create our utmost admiration is, that this insect, which can only move
in a retrograde direction, is doomed by nature to feed upon flies and
ants, the quickness and agility of which would at all times deprive him
of his prey were he not endowed with an uncommon instinct, which prompts
him to the following stratagem:--He makes a kind of funnel-shaped hole
in the loose earth or sand, and, placing himself at the bottom of it,
waits there with the utmost patience, till an incautious ant or giddy
fly falls into the deathful pit. Then all his skill is put in
requisition; he throws out, by the shaking of his large jaws, a great
quantity of sand upon the insect, to prevent its climbing up the steep
sides of the hole; and when the prey appears strong and nimble, he gives
such a general commotion, that the whole construction crumbles down, and
the unfortunate insect, overwhelmed with the ruins, falls into the jaws
of the Ant-lion, which open like a pair of forceps. When the Ant-lion
has sucked out the blood and inside of his prey, he takes it upon his
head, and, by a sudden jerk, throws the carcase to a distance from his
abode. When the larva has attained its full size, it spins for itself a
cocoon of white shining silk, with an external covering of sand. In
about three weeks there bursts from this pupa case a slender-waisted
winged insect, which, after fluttering about for a few weeks, and
depositing eggs in the sand, resigns its life. The winged insect
resembles a beautiful dragon-fly; it has a head of a chestnut colour;
the body is of a pearly grey, the legs short, and the wings, which
resemble the finest lace, are beautifully marked with dark lines and
spots. This fly is often seen fluttering about the sides of roads and
dry banks exposed to the east, in the months of June and July; it
continues for a little time, and then entirely disappears. The Ant-lion
is not found in this country; but in the south of France and Italy there
is not a bank on the sides of a public road, or a sandy ridge at the
foot of an old wall, which does not harbour a great number of these
insects.
[Illustration: THE GREAT DRAGON FLY. (_Libellula grandis._)]
THIS genus of insects is well known to every one. The larva lives in the
water, and wears a kind of mask, which it moves at will, and which
serves to hold its prey while it devours it. The pupa closely resembles
the larva in its form, except that at the sides of the body the wings
are seen enclosed in thin cases. The period of transformation being
come, the pupa goes to the water-side, and fixes on a plant, or sticks
fast to a piece of dry wood, in which position it remains for some
little time, when the skin of the nymph splitting at the upper part of
the thorax, the winged insect issues forth gradually, throws off its
slough, expands its wings, flutters, and then flies off with
gracefulness and ease. The elegance of its slender shape, the richness
of its colours, the delicacy and resplendent texture of its wings,
render it a beautiful object. It is in length about four inches.
The female deposits her eggs in the water, from which spring the larvæ,
which afterwards undergo the same transformations.
The Day Fly (_Ephemera_), so called on account of the shortness of its
life, is a small insect originating from a larva residing in rivers.
After remaining several months in the creeping state, a nymph is formed,
from which the perfect insect changes, three or four hours after
mid-day, into the fly form, and dies soon after. This fly has the
singular characteristic of casting off its entire skin very soon after
it has attained its perfect state; and the empty coat may often be seen
lying about after its occupant has deserted it.
ORDER V. _Hymenoptera._
IN this order the wings are neither so large nor so strongly veined as
in the previous one. The mouth is furnished with mandibles, maxillæ, and
an upper and lower lip; and the abdomen of the female is terminated
either with an ovipositor or a sting. The metamorphosis of these insects
is complete.
This order contains the Bees, of which there are hundreds of different
species. The most interesting of these is the common Hive Bee, from
whose industry we obtain wax, and by whose provident habits we are
supplied with honey. The inhabitants of a hive are of three kinds: one
Queen, a few hundred drones or males, and several thousand workers. The
Queen, or Parent Bee, is the soul of the community; to her all the rest
are so attached, that they will follow her wherever she goes. She has
the power of quelling any disturbance which may arise among her subjects
by making a peculiar humming noise. She is so prolific as to lay fifteen
or eighteen thousand eggs, which produce about eight hundred males or
drones, four or five Queen Bees, and the rest Working Bees or Neuters.
The combs of a hive consist of a number of cells, formed of wax, a
substance which is secreted by the Working Bees after gorging themselves
with honey. These cells are for the habitation and breeding of the young
Bees, and are also used as stores for honey, and bee-bread, or the
pollen of flowers. The royal cells, in which are laid the eggs of future
Queens, are the largest, and shaped like the cup of an acorn. All the
other cells are of a beautiful hexagonal form, and of two kinds, one
larger than the other: the larger for the young drones, the smaller forthe workers. In two or three days the eggs are hatched, when the Neuters
nurse the young grubs, whom they feed most tenderly with bee-bread and
honey. After twenty-one days, the young Bees are able to form cells with
such indefatigable activity that they will then do more in one week than
during all the rest of the year. No more than one Queen is ever
permitted to inhabit a hive. When a young Queen is about to be hatched,
the old one leads away a swarm from the old colony to form a new one. If
the Queen die or is lost to the hive by accident, and there be no young
Queens in the royal cells, the Bees can repair their loss. They choose a
grub of the Neuter species, enlarge its cell by adding to it three or
four adjacent ones, feed the young grub on royal food, and it is then
developed into a Queen. Sometimes there are Bees who, less laborious
than the others, support themselves by pillaging the hives of the rest;
upon which a battle ensues between the industrious and the despoiling
insects. Their foes are the wasp, the hornet, and various kinds of
birds.
The Bee collects the honey by means of its proboscis, or trunk, which is
a most astonishing piece of mechanism, consisting of more than twenty
parts. Entering the hive, the insect disgorges the honey into cells, for
winter subsistence; or else presents it to the labouring Bees.
The combs of cells formed by these industrious insects are constructed
with an instinctive ingenuity which must always be regarded as one of
the most marvellous things in nature. Each comb consists of two sets of
hexagonal cells placed back to back, and not only do the insects adopt
this form which enables them to construct the greatest number of cells
of the requisite size within the smallest possible space, and with the
least possible amount of material, but each cell on one side of the comb
is placed opposite to the junction of three cells on the opposite side,
so that its centre may be deepened without interfering with the latter,
the three diamond-shaped pieces forming the bottom of each cell
belonging to three distinct cells of the opposite side of the comb. By
all these contrivances the Bees manage to get the greatest possible
amount of accommodation in the smallest possible space; and it has been
found, by mathematical calculation, that if it were desired to construct
a series of cavities of a given size within the smallest possible space
and with the smallest possible amount of materials, we should have to
adopt precisely the same plan, even to the forms of the sides of the
cells and the angles at which they are attached to each other, that has
been instinctively adopted by the little Bee. At the entrance of every
cell the Bee architect places a flange of wax, which fortifies the
aperture, and prevents the injuries it might receive from the frequent
ingress and egress of the Bees.
Bees produce honey, which they lay up for winter consumption; wax, of
which they form their cells; and a substance called bee-bread, which
they extract chiefly from the pollen of flowers, and which they use for
feeding their young.
[Illustration]
Above are given representations of, first, the _Queen Bee_, placed on
the left-hand side; second, the _Drone_; and, third, the _Working Bee_.
[Illustration: THE WASP, (_Vespa vulgaris_,)]
IS a very fierce, dangerous, and rapacious insect; it is much larger
than the bee, and furnished with a powerful sting. The abdomen is
striped with yellow and black. All kinds of Wasps make curious nests;
some attach them to the beams of a barn or other building, or place them
in the hollow of a large tree, but the common Wasp digs a hole in the
ground. Wasps do not construct their combs with quite the same care and
accuracy as the bee; nevertheless, their nests are often very
ingeniously made, and the material employed by most of them is curious,
being a sort of paper or card made from fibres of wood masticated
between the jaws of the insects. As they do not lay up a store of honey
for their support during winter, they mostly die at that season; and the
few that live remain in a torpid state till spring. Their sting is very
large; and the poisonous liquor of it, when introduced into the human
body, excites inflammation and creates very considerable pain.
[Illustration: THE ICHNEUMON FLY. (_Pimpla persuasoria._)]
THE mouth of this insect has jaws, but no sucking tongue. The antennæ
contain more than thirty joints; and the abdomen is joined to the body
by a slender pedicle. The ovipositor is enclosed in a cylindrical
sheath, composed of two valves.
One distinguishing and striking characteristic of all the species of
this kind of fly is the almost continual agitation of their antennæ. The
name of Ichneumon has been applied to them from the service they do us
by destroying caterpillars, plant-lice, and other insects; as the
Ichneumon or Mangouste destroys the crocodile in the East. The tip of
the abdomen of the females is armed with an ovipositor, visible in some
species, though not in others; and this instrument, though so fine, is
able to penetrate through mortar and plaster. The female fly uses it to
deposit her eggs in the body of other insects when in the egg,
caterpillar, or pupa state; so that the young as soon as they are
hatched may feed upon the caterpillar, penetrating to its very entrails.
These larvæ, however, contrive to suck out the nutritious juices of
their prey without attacking its vitals; for the caterpillar continues
to live for a long time, so as to afford them food till they have
attained their full size. It is not uncommon to see caterpillars fixed
upon trees, as if they were sitting upon their eggs; when it is
afterwards discovered that the larvæ, which were within their bodies,
have spun their threads, with which, as with cords, the caterpillars are
fastened down, and so perish miserably.
“A friend of mine,” says Dr. Derham, “put about forty large
caterpillars, collected from cabbages, on some bran and a few leaves in
a box, and covered it with gauze to prevent their escape. After a few
days we saw, from the backs of more than three-fourths of them, about
eight or ten little caterpillars of one of the Ichneumon flies come out
and spin each a small cocoon of silk; and in a few days the large
caterpillars died.”
The Ichneumons performed great service in the years 1731 and 1732, by
multiplying in the same proportion as the caterpillars, and their larvæ
destroyed more of these destructive creatures than could any efforts of
human industry.
They are found of all sizes, suitable to the various insects they are
parasitic upon, and in their ceaseless rummaging about in every hole and
corner, millions of destructive larvæ are discovered and destroyed by
them, which would otherwise have reached maturity, and left a progeny to
renew their ravages in the ensuing summer. Even those larvæ which feed
in concealment are readily discovered by the Ichneumons destined to live
upon them, and the farmer is often made aware of the presence of his
enemies by observing the activity of his friends.
[Illustration: THE LABOURING AND SOLDIER ANT.
(_Formica rufa._)]
THE colour of the Ant is in general a dark red or brown, with a fine
gloss on the abdomen. They are like the bees, divided into three
kinds--males, females, and neuters. The females and neuters are
furnished with stings for their defence; the males are wholly destitute
of them. The males and females are in proper season furnished with
wings, but the neuters have none, and they are doomed always to labour
and drudgery on the hill. This hill is constructed with considerable art
and labour; it is composed of leaves, bits of wood, sand, earth, and gum
from the trees, which are all united into a mass, perforated with
galleries to give access to the numerous cells which it contains. From
this hill there are several paths, worn by the constant passing and
repassing of these creatures; and it is worthy the admiration of the
naturalist to consider how busy the whole legion appears in bringing
bits of straw, dead bodies of other insects, or in carrying away their
eggs, if any danger threatens their republic. Their sense of smell is
very keen, and they discover at a great distance any food they may be in
search of.
ORDER VI. _Lepidoptera._ _The Moths and Butterflies._
THE insects included in this order are all remarkable for their beauty.
Their wings are membranous and veined, like those of the dragon flies
and their allies, but instead of being naked they are covered by
close-set scales of the most delicate texture and most brilliant
colours. The mouth is furnished with a spiral trunk or tongue, by which
nectar is sucked from the flowers; but in other respects it only differs
from the mouths of the masticating mandibulated orders in the smallness
of its parts. The antennæ vary in the different kinds: but those of all
the diurnal lepidoptera, or butterflies, are terminated by a small
inflation or knob; while those of the nocturnal species, or moths, taper
to a point, and are often feathery, or comb-shaped. The transformations
of the species belonging to this order are all complete.
Over the larvæ of this order the ichneumons reign with undisputed sway;
attacking all indiscriminately, from the minute insect that forms its
labyrinth within the thickness of a leaf, to the giant caterpillar of
the hawk moth. The most useful of all, however, the silkworm, appears,
at least with us, to be exempted from this scourge. De Geer, out of
fifteen larvæ that were mining between the two cuticles of a rose-leaf,
found that fourteen were destroyed by one of these insects.
[Illustration: THE EMPEROR MOTH WITH ITS CHRYSALIS AND CATERPILLAR.]
THE larva of all the lepidoptera is a Caterpillar composed of twelve
ring-like segments, exclusive of the head, which is harder than the
other parts, and always of a deeper colour than the body. Each
Caterpillar has nine breathing-holes on each side; and each of the three
segments nearest the head is furnished with a pair of short legs, ending
in a kind of claw, which are the true legs of the insect. The
Caterpillar has, however, eight or ten other legs on the hinder segments
of its body. The head has twelve eyes, and two very short conical
antennæ; and the mouth is furnished with two strong mandibles, two
maxillæ, a labrum, and four palpi.
The habits of Caterpillars differ: some, which are called Geometers, or
Loopers, advance by a succession of steps, first extending the body to
its full length and adhering by the fore legs, then drawing up the
hinder part of the body close to the forepart so as to form a loop, and
then again repeating this process; these Caterpillars, when at rest,
often adhere by their hinder feet, and extend the body stiffly, like a
little dry twig; others, which are furnished with more prolegs, adhere
by these to the branch or leaf, and raise the forepart of the body a
little, an attitude which induced Linnæus to give the name of _Sphinx_
to the moths in whose Caterpillars this habit prevails; some small
species live between the upper and lower surfaces of leaves, in which
they excavate mines; others dwell in small cases, which they manufacture
of various materials; whilst others, dwelling in large societies, spin
for themselves a sort of silken tent, in which they take their repose,
and from which they issue daily in search of food in a regularly
marshalled procession. Many make themselves cocoons; but others have no
other covering in the pupa state than a smooth shining skin, or a dark
mummy-like cerement. The chrysalis of a butterfly is generally angular,
and that of a moth cylindrical.
[Illustration: TORTOISE-SHELL BUTTERFLY.
(_Vanessa urticæ._)]
THE Caterpillar, which feeds on the nettle, is about an inch in length,
covered with bristles, and of a reddish brown colour. After having
changed its skin three times when in the shape of a Caterpillar, it
crawls up to a branching part of the stalk; and, hanging itself by the
hinder part or tail, swells and bursts in such a curious way, that the
Caterpillar’s skin drops to the ground, and the chrysalis, or aurelia,
remains suspended; till after a fortnight of torpor it bursts its skin
again, and escapes into the air, under the beautiful form of a
variegated Butterfly. The golden line which shines through the pupa case
of this Butterfly is supposed to have suggested the words chrysalis and
aurelia, both of which signify golden. The wings of the perfect insect
are about two inches in extent, of a deep orange colour above, and their
base and hinder margin black, with a series of blue crescents. These
Butterflies, which are very common in England, appear in spring, and at
the end of June and beginning of September.
[Illustration: THE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.
(_Pontia_, or _Pieris Brassicæ_.)]
WHEN the colewort and cauliflower are nearly mature, the perfect insect
of this Caterpillar is found depositing her eggs upon the leaves. The
heat of the sun soon vivifies them and brings forth the Caterpillars,
which immediately proceed to consume the vegetables on which they
received being. They bear the heat of the sun without inconvenience, but
cannot endure long rains, and in wet weather they soon disappear. There
are several species of this Butterfly, but the common white, with a
black spot on each of the under wings, is the earliest seen in our
gardens. It lays its eggs in May; and its Caterpillars, which are soon
hatched, feed together till the end of June, when they go into the pupa
state, from which the perfect Butterfly appears in July. The eggs laid
by the second brood of Butterflies produce Caterpillars which feed
during the remainder of the summer, and remain in the pupa state all the
winter, to be hatched the following spring.
From the astonishing fecundity of these insects, it may be wondered that
they do not, in the course of time, completely overspread the face of
the earth, and totally consume every green plant. This would certainly
be the case if Providence had not provided a check to their progress.
One of the kinds of the ichneumon fly deposits her eggs within the
caterpillar of this Butterfly, and they are there hatched. In their
larva state they continue preying on the vitals of the animal; they then
pass to the pupa condition, and eventually emerge as perfect insects. So
greatly are we indebted to this apparently contemptible little parasite,
for keeping down the increase of an insect which would otherwise become
a serious and alarming evil.
[Illustration: THE MAGPIE, OR CURRANT MOTH.
(_Geometra_, or _Abraxas grossulariata_.)]
THE Caterpillar of this Moth is one of the kind called loopers, and is
very destructive. The chrysalis is naked and shining; and its colour is
a bright yellow with black bands. The Moth is white, spotted with black,
and hence its name of Magpie.
The black and white caterpillar of this Moth is very destructive to
currant and gooseberry bushes, and in some seasons particularly so. Mr.
Kirby especially cites the devastations at Hull in the spring of 1814.
He also confirms Boerhaave’s assertion, that the severity of winter has
no effect in destroying the larvæ of those insects, as these abounded
even more after a winter when Fahrenheit’s thermometer stood at zero,
than after a winter which was remarkably mild.
[Illustration: THE WINTER MOTH.
(_Geometra_, or _Cheimatobia brumata_.)]
THE Caterpillar delights in newly-opened leaves; it is not so ravenous
as many others, making long intervals between its meals, but it seldom
quits a leaf until it has entirely consumed it. The colour is very
elegant. The upper part of the body is of a fine yellowish green; but it
is by no means so beautiful after as before feeding, its skin being so
thin as to transmit the hue of whatever food it eats. They are also
called looper Caterpillars, because when they crawl they draw their hind
and fore feet together, so as to form their bodies into a loop. They go
into the pupa state towards the end of June, burying themselves for that
purpose in the earth; and in November or December the perfect insect is
brought forth.
It is evident that they possess great muscular power, and hence their
positions during repose are very striking. Fixing themselves by their
hinder feet alone, they extend their bodies in a straight line, holding
it in that position for a long time. This, together with their obscure
colours, and the warts on their bodies, render it often difficult to
distinguish them from the twigs of the trees on which they feed. When
alarmed, these Caterpillars have the instinct to drop from the leaves,
and suspend themselves by a thread, which enables them to remount when
the danger is over.
[Illustration: THE SILKWORM. (_Bombyx mori._)]
WITHOUT entering into a very minute description of this Caterpillar, we
shall confine ourselves to what we think will be at once more
interesting and more useful. As the Silkworm is an insect of universal
service, and not of singular beauty, we are induced to prefer giving an
account of its utility, rather than any elaborate description of its
figure or colour.
This larva feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree, and when first
produced is extremely small, and entirely black. In a few days it
appears in a new habit, which is white, tinged with the colour of its
food; and before it goes into its chrysalis state it changes its skin
several times. When full grown it spins its cone of silk, which is its
cocoon, in the same manner as other insects. The Moth possesses no
beauty. The Silkworm is a native of China, whence the greater part of
our silk is still imported; but the insect was introduced into the south
of Europe during the reign of the Emperor Justinian, and is now reared
in large quantities both in France and Italy.
The art of manufacturing silk was known to the ancients. We are informed
that, in the third century, the wife of the Roman emperor Aurelian
entreated him to give her a robe of purple silk, which he refused on
account of its enormous price.
It is not certain at what precise period the manufacture of silk was
first introduced into England; but in the year 1242, we are told that
part of the streets of London were covered or shaded with silk, for the
reception of Richard, the brother of Henry III., on his return from the
Holy Land. In 1454 the silk manufactures of England are said to have
been confined merely to ribbons, laces, and other trifling articles.
Queen Elizabeth, in the third year of her reign, was furnished by her
silk-woman with a pair of black knit silk stockings, which she is stated
to have admired as “marvellous delicate wear;” and after the using of
which she no longer had cloth ones as before. James I., whilst king of
Scotland, requested of the Earl of Mar the loan of a pair of silk
stockings to appear in before the English ambassador, enforcing his
request with the cogent appeal, “For ye would not, sure, that your king
should appear as a scrub before strangers.”
[Illustration: THE CLOTHES MOTH. (_Tinea pellionella._)]
THE larva of this little Moth is well known from the damage it commits
in woollen cloth and furs. These substances constitute the principal
support of the Caterpillar, and therefore the parent is, by its natural
instinct, directed to deposit its eggs in them. As soon as it quits the
egg, the Caterpillar begins to form for itself a nest: for this purpose,
after having spun a fine coating of silk immediately around its body,
it eats the filaments of the cloth or fur, close to the thread of the
cloth, or to the skin. This operation is performed by its jaws, which
act in the manner of scissors. The pieces are cut into convenient
lengths, and applied, with great dexterity, one by one, to the outside
of its case; and to this it fastens them by means of its silk. Its
covering being thus formed, the little Caterpillar never quits it but on
the most urgent necessity. When it wants to feed, it puts out its head
at either end of its case, as best suits its conveniency. When it wishes
to change its place, it puts out its head and its six fore legs, by
means of which it moves forward, taking care first to fix its hind legs
into the inside of the case, so as to drag it along. After having
changed within its case into a chrysalis, it issues, in about three
weeks, a small, winged, mealy-looking Moth, of silvery drab colour, too
well known to almost every mistress of a family. The best mode of
destroying this insect, when in the cloth, is to place a saucer of oil
of turpentine with the articles affected in a close place, when the
vapour raised by the warm air will immediately destroy it. Should the
Caterpillar be old and strong, it may be necessary to brush the clothes
with a brush, the points of which have been dipped in turpentine.
Camphor wrapped up with furs will protect them from the Moth.
ORDER VII. _Diptera, or Flies._
THIS order is characterised by having only two wings, which are
transparent, and which have two little movable bodies, called halteres
or balancers, placed close behind them. The head is almost covered with
a pair of enormous eyes; and the mouth is furnished with a proboscis or
sucker. The legs are long in proportion to the body, and are in many
species terminated by two or three small cushion-like expansions, which,
it is supposed, enable them to walk on glass. Each foot has also two
hooks or claws.
[Illustration: THE HOUSE FLY. (_Musca domestica._)]
THIS insect lays its eggs in sinks, dunghills, or any other place where
there is decaying vegetable matter tolerably moist. The larvæ, or
maggots, are thick and fleshy, without legs, but having the mouth
furnished with hooks, by means of which they drag themselves along when
they wish to move. They go into the pupa state without throwing off the
skin of the maggot; and when the perfect insect appears, it forces off a
kind of cap from one end of the pupa case, in order to make its escape.
The _Blue Bottle flies_ (_Musca erythrocephala_ and _Vomitoria_) are
only too well known from their habit of depositing their eggs upon our
meat in summer. In the _Flesh fly_ (_Musca_ or _Sarcophaga carnaria_)
and some allied species, the eggs are hatched within the body of the
parent, which thus deposits living larvæ upon the decomposing animal
matter that constitutes their food. These flies are so prolific and
their larvæ so voracious that Linnæus says the progeny of them would
devour a horse as quickly as a lion could do it.
THE GNAT. (_Culex pipiens._)
THIS is an insect which deserves the observation of the naturalist, not
only for the very curious conformation of its proboscis (which so
quickly and powerfully penetrates into our skin, and through which it
sucks our blood into its body), but also for the several metamorphoses
it undergoes before it arrives at its winged state. The Gnat deposits
its eggs upon the surface of stagnant water, and sets them upright one
against another, in the form of a small boat: after floating upon the
water for several days, as soon as the time of hatching arrives thelarvæ, which the eggs contain, escape into the water in which they swim
about with vigorous jerking movements. They are compelled to visit the
surface to take in a supply of air, and for this purpose the tail is
furnished with a short tube, surrounded at its extremity with a star of
bristles, which, when spread out, prevent the water from flowing into
the air tube. The change to the pupa state is a curious one. In this
condition the insect exhibits a rather slender body with a bulky
anterior extremity, in which the head, wings, and limbs are enclosed;
the tail is furnished with a pair of leaves or membranous plates, the
matting tube has vanished from this part and in place of it we find two
tubes situated on the sides of the thorax: having passed about ten days
in this state, its increase being at an end, it keeps longer near the
surface, and at last the outer skin bursts, and the winged insect,
standing upon the _exuviæ_ it is going to leave behind, smooths its
new-born wings, springs into the air, and begins its depredations. The
fecundity of the Gnat is so remarkable, that in the course of one summer
they might increase to the amazing number of five or six hundred
thousands, if Providence had not ordered that they should become the
prey of birds, who by this means prevent their multiplying more than
they generally do. These insects are very annoying from their
blood-sucking propensities; and as the sucker is horny at the tip, it
inflicts a severe wound, into which the insect emits a small quantity of
poison, which occasions the pain and inflammation always felt from a
Gnat bite.
ORDER VIII. _Suctoria._
THESE insects are without wings. The mouth is furnished with a trunk or
beak, formed to wound as well as to suck.
[Illustration: THE FLEA, (_Pulex irritans_,)]
IS one of those little creatures with which want of cleanliness in
mankind is punished. It is one of the most annoying insects that infest
the human race, as, by its leapings, it often escapes being caught. It
is oviparous, and the egg, which is hardly discernible with the naked
eye, contains at maturity a small white worm, beset with hairs. This
worm soon spins for itself a little silk cocoon, from which the perfect
insect issues. The Flea is an active, troublesome, blood-thirsty insect;
it has a small head, large eyes, and a roundish, but compressed body,
which is covered with a kind of armour resembling the tortoise shell in
colour and transparency. The plates of which this skin is composed are
also armed with spines or bristles. It has six legs, two of which are
much longer than the others, in order to enable the insect to make such
wondrous leaps, as to raise the body above two hundred times its
diameter. The great strength and agility of the Flea are well known,
from the exhibition of the industrious Fleas.
BOOK VII.
RADIATA.
THE STAR-FISH. (_Asterias_, or _Uraster rubens_.)
THIS animal is often found adhering to rocks on the sea-shores. The
common species is furnished with five rays, and is of a yellow or red
colour. It has a slow progressive motion, and is often found on the
beach among seaweeds after a storm.
Mr. Bingley describes an animal of this kind, which he kept by him for
some time alive; it had more than four thousand tentacula on the under
sides of the rays. These it frequently retracted, and again pushed out,
as a snail does its horns; and by means of them it was enabled firmly to
adhere to the dish containing the salt-water in which it was kept.
Whenever he touched the tentacula with his finger, all those of that ray
or limb were gradually withdrawn, but those of the other rays were not
in the least affected by it.
There are many other kinds of Star-fishes, especially in warm climates.
Amongst our native species we may notice the _Great Sun Star_ (_Solaster
papposa_) with a large disc and thirteen short rays; the _Luidia
fragilissima_ with five long rays, which it usually casts off
immediately on finding itself in danger, so as to render it a most
difficult matter to obtain perfect specimens of this species. The
_Feathered Star_ (_Comatula rosacea_) is also deserving of
mention.--This is a small species, with the arms distinct from the body
as in the last species and jointed, but furnished with numerous slender
jointed tentacles which give them the appearance of plumes. There are
ten of these arms and the number of little calcareous joints contained
in them is most astonishing. The small cuplike body of the Feather Star
bears other slender jointed appendages, by means of which the creature
clings to the rocks with its mouth and arms directed upwards; and in the
young state it is even supported on a jointed stalk, from which it
eventually casts itself free.
THE SEA-URCHIN. (_Echinus miliaris._)
THIS animal, which lodges in the cavities of rocks just beneath
low-water mark, on most of the British coasts, is nearly of a globular
shape, not much unlike that of an orange, having its shell marked into
ten partitions, with rows of projections like beads, which divide it. On
the outside of the shell there are a great number of sharp, moveable
spines, of a dull violet and greenish colour, curiously articulated,
like balls and sockets, with tubercles on the surface, and connected by
strong ligaments to the skin or epidermis with which the shell is
covered. The mouth is situated in the under part, and is armed with five
strong and sharpened teeth. The animal can move from place to place by
means of its contractile tubular feet and its spines; but its movements
are slow and laborious. So tenacious of life are the Sea-urchins, that
the ancients, according to Appian, believed that the body retained life
even when cut to pieces.
“If in the sea the mangled parts you cast,
The conscious pieces to their fellows haste;
Again they aptly join, their whole compose,
Move as before, nor life nor vigour lose.”
In Marseilles, and some other towns on the continent, the Sea-urchin is
exposed for sale in the markets, as oysters are with us, and is eaten
boiled as an egg. The Romans adopted it as food, and dressed it with
vinegar, mead, parsley, and mint.
ZOOPHYTES.
ZOOPHYTES were long supposed to hold a middle station between animals
and vegetables. Most of them, deprived altogether of the power of
locomotion, are fixed by stems that take root in the crevices of rocks,
among sand, or in such other situations as Nature has destined for their
abode; these, by degrees, send off branches, till at length some of them
attain the size and extent of large shrubs. The Zoophytes were placed
by Linnæus in two divisions. The stony branches of the first division,
which have the general appellation of coral, are full of hollow cells,
which are habitations of the animals. The next division consists of such
Zoophytes as have softer, fleshy, or horny, stems, and in which the
individual polypes are, as it were, amalgamated with their common
plant-like habitation.
[Illustration:
Magnified branch, exhibiting the Animals. Gorgonia Nobilis.
THE RED CORAL.]
THE CORAL, or Gorgonia, is a hard, stony, branched, and cylindrical
substance, which is formed at the bottom of the sea by animals called
polyps, or, to use the Latin and now established term, _polypi_. The
whole form a living mass, or polypidom, all the polypi in which are
united under one skin, and have one common stomach. Each of these polypi
resides in a distinct cell; they are generally dormant during winter,
and like the blossoms of plants, push forth buds, and expand in the
summer season. The stems and branches of the Gorgoniæ, which are of a
somewhat horny and flexible nature, may be considered as the true
skeletons of the nests of the sea polypi, being covered with a fleshy or
pulpy substance, the surface of which is porous. These pores are the
mouths or openings of the cells, in which the polypi are lodged; and it
is the number, disposition, and varied structure of these, in addition
to the general aspect of the plant-like nest of habitations, that
constitute the distinguishing difference of the species.
The bone of the Red Coral constitutes that beautiful and much esteemed
production, the true or red coral of the jewellers. It is found in the
Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Red Sea, and appears to be nowhere more
abundant than in the seas about Marseilles, Corsica, Sicily, the coasts
of Africa, and in the vicinity of Barbary; where the Coral fisheries are
carried on with great spirit, and prove very lucrative. It is equal in
hardness and durability to the most compact marble; and these qualities,
in addition to its beautiful texture and colour, have rendered it
valuable in all ages. Thus in the book of Job, “No mention shall be made
of corals, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies.”
Travellers in tropical lands often speak of the exquisite beauty of the
coral beds that lie at the bottom of the ocean. The water is so clear in
those regions, that these wonderful formations are clearly visible at a
great depth, growing like stony forests, mingled with waving seaweeds of
many brilliant dyes.
The mode of obtaining Coral is by a very simple machine, consisting of
two strong bars of wood or iron, tied across each other, with a weight
suspending from their centre of union. Each of the bars is loosely
surrounded, throughout its whole length, with twisted hemp; and, at the
extremity, there is a small open net. The machine is suspended by a
rope, and dragged along those rocks where the Coral is most abundant:
and such as is broken off either becomes entangled in the hemp, or falls
into the nets.
Coral is bought by weight, and its value increases according to its
size. Beads of large size are worth about forty shillings an ounce,
whilst small ones do not sell for more than four shillings. Large pieces
of Coral are sometimes cut into balls, and exported to China, to be worn
as insignia in the caps of officers of state. These, if perfectly sound
and of good colour, and upwards of an inch in diameter, have been known
to produce in that market, as much as three to four hundred pounds
sterling each. There are extant many beautiful pieces of sculpture in
coral, as this substance has in all ages been considered an admirable
material on which to exhibit the artist’s taste and skill. Probably the
finest specimen of sculptured Coral yet known is a chess-board and men
in the palace of the Tuileries.
The Chinese have, within the last few years, succeeded in cutting coral
beads of much smaller dimension than has hitherto been effected by any
European artist. These, which are not larger than small pins’ heads, are
called Seed Coral, and are now imported from China into this country, in
very considerable quantity for necklaces. There are modes by which Coral
may be so exactly imitated, that without a close inspection, it is
sometimes impossible to detect the counterfeit.
STONY CORALS.
THE RED CORAL, just described, belongs to the section of zoophytes
called Asteroida by Cuvier, in which the surface of the polypidom is
fleshy, and each polypus has only eight arms. The polypi which form the
massive stony corals of the tropical reefs, are furnished with numerous
tentacles, and resemble in their general conformation the Sea Anemones
which are so well known now-a-days as inhabitants of aquaria. The coral
consists of a deposit of carbonate of lime, and each polypus dwells in a
cell which exhibits a number of thin stony rays nearly meeting in the
middle. The masses of coral differ exceedingly in size, some consisting
of the habitations of only two or three polypi, whilst others are the
gradual production of a vast and constantly succeeding population; some
form branched trees and shrubs of the most various and elegant forms,
others grow in solid masses, but all, when living, present a most
beautiful appearance from the charming and often brilliant diversity of
colours with which they are adorned.
In the Pacific Ocean several of the coral reefs are extremely beautiful,
and the voyager is astonished with the curious and fantastic forms of
the various marine productions of which they are composed.
Wheat-sheaves, mushrooms, cabbage leaves, with innumerable plants and
flowers, are vividly represented by different kinds of Coral, and glow
beneath the water in brilliant tints of brown and purple, white or
green; each with a peculiar form and shade of colouring, equal in
richness and variety to the most beautiful productions of the vegetable
world. Corals and fungi start from between the fissures of the rocks;
while large portions of the former, in a dead state, connected into a
solid mass, of a dull white colour, compose the stone-work of the reef.
Solid masses, termed negro heads, of different dusky hues, and generally
dry and blackened by exposure to the weather, are also occasionally
conspicuous. Even these are not without ornament, for nature delights in
the variety of her decorations. They are studded with small shells, and
beautifully marked with outlines expressive of their origin. The edges
of the reefs, particularly those exposed to the waves, partake of a
considerable degree of lightness, and form small coves and caverns, the
resort of live corals, sponges, sea-eggs, and trefangs, or sea traces,
(valued in China, for their invigorating quality,) and enormous cockles,
which are scarcely to be distinguished from the rock, excepting when
they suddenly close their shells, and discharge living fountains, which
rise to the height of four or five feet.
With regard to the formation of coral reefs, it has been conjectured,
from the appearance of the low islands in some parts of the South Sea
and Indian Ocean (where they occur in rows or groups, while they are
totally absent in other parts of the same seas), that Coral animals rear
their habitations on marine shoals, or, to speak more properly, at or
near the top of sub-marine mountains. As it is known, however, that the
polypes can only build their coral within a small distance of the
surface of the sea, and the water is often of immense depth close to the
coral reefs, it has been supposed that in the Pacific Ocean, where the
greater part of the Coral reefs and islands are met with, the bottom of
the sea has been gradually undergoing changes, deepening in some places
and becoming shallower in others, and by this supposition most of the
peculiarities of the Coral reefs and islands may easily be accounted
for. Where reefs are formed the bottom is generally sinking; islands
indicate that the bottom is stationary or rising. In the latter case,
when the Corals approach close to the surface, floating substances of
every kind are caught by their stony tree-like fabrics, till at length a
solid mass of rock is formed, which gradually advances to the surface of
the water. The deposits of the ocean no longer tenaciously adhere, but
remain in a loose state, and form what is termed by mariners a key upon
the summit of the reef; while the sea, by throwing up sand and mud on
the top of these animal rocks, progressively raises them above its
level. The new island, for such it may now be called, is soon visited by
sea-birds; plants successively appear, and carpet the sterile soil with
a luxuriant covering. As these decay, vegetable mould is gradually
deposited; cocoa-nuts, or some floating seeds, flung on shore by the
impetuosity of the waves, take root, and soon begin to grow; land-birds,
attracted by the verdant appearance of the bank, fly thither in quest of
provisions, and deposit the seeds of shrubs and trees; every high tide
and every gale adds some new treasure: the appearance of an island is
gradually assumed, and at length man comes to take possession.
[Illustration: CORAL POLYPI, MAGNIFIED.
1. Coral of the Astrea _annanas_.
2. Animal of the Caryophyllia _solitaria_.
3. Animal of the Tubipora _musica_.
4. Animal and dwelling of the Cellepora _hyalina_.
5. Animal and central axis of the Gorgonia _patula_.
]
[Illustration: SPONGE.]
SPONGE is a substance of a soft, light, porous, and elastic nature,
which is found adhering to rocks at the bottom of the sea, in several
parts of the Mediterranean, and particularly near the islands of the
Grecian Archipelago; and which, in its natural state, is filled with
animal jelly. The general uses of Sponge, arising from its ready
absorption of fluids, and distension by moisture, are well known and of
great importance. It is collected from rocks, in water five or six
fathoms deep, chiefly by divers. When first taken from the sea, it has a
strong and fishy smell, from the animal matter it contains, of which it
is divested by being washed in clear water. No other preparation than
this is requisite previously to its being packed up for exportation and
sale. The growth of Sponge is so rapid, that it is frequently found in
perfection on rocks, from which, only two years before, it had been
entirely cleared.
As they are never designed to move from their places of abode, the
surface of the Sponges is covered with innumerable small apertures or
pores, communicating with a network of fine canals, which permeate every
part of the substance and convey to the minute and simple creatures
which form the living part of this curious compound animal, the food and
water necessary for their support and respiration. These fine canals
unite into larger passages, leading to orifices of considerable size
usually placed on prominences of the surface; from these the water
streams forth with such force, according to some observers, as to be
perceptible by the eye.
The inherent chemical properties of this curious Zoophyte are very
remarkable. When a Sponge has been immersed for fourteen or sixteen days
in nitric acid (diluted with three parts of distilled water) it becomes
nearly transparent, and when touched with ammonia, assumes a deep orange
colour, inclining to a brownish red. But if much softened by the acid,
the whole fabric immediately disappears, on being immersed in ammonia,
and forms a deep orange-coloured solution. A Sponge, when boiled, gives
out a considerable portion of animal jelly. The infusion of a small
quantity of oak bark causes this to fall to the bottom of the vessel, as
a sediment, and so entirely changes the nature of the Sponge, that, when
dry, it crumbles between the fingers; and, when moist, it may be torn
like wetted paper. In this state we should naturally conclude that it is
entirely useless: but no; the operations of chemistry resemble a magic
wand. Boil the same in water, with caustic potash, its latent qualities
will be called forth; and, behold, a deposition of animal soap!
THE FRESH-WATER POLYPI AND THEIR MARINE ALLIES. (_Hydroida._)
THESE are two species, which will fully illustrate the nature of the
whole tribe. They are found in clear waters, and may generally be seen
in small ditches and trenches of fields, especially in the months of
April and May. They affix themselves to the under-parts of leaves, and
to the stalks of such vegetables as happen to grow in the same water;
and feed on the various species of small worms and other aquatic animals
within their reach. When any of these pass near a Polyp, the latter
suddenly catches it with its arms, and dragging it to its mouth,
swallows it by degrees, much in the same manner as a snake gorges its
prey. Two Polypi may occasionally be seen in the act of seizing the same
worm at different ends, and dragging it in opposite directions with
great force. It sometimes happens, that while one is swallowing the end
it has seized, the other is employed in the same manner; and thus they
continue swallowing, each his part, until their mouths meet. They then
rest for some time in this situation, till the worm breaks between them,
and each goes off with his share. But sometimes when the mouths of both
are thus joined together a combat ensues, and the largest Polyp usually
swallows his antagonist; the animal thus swallowed, however, seems to be
a gainer by its misfortune, as after it has lain in the conqueror’s body
for about an hour it issues unhurt, and often in possession of the prey
that had been the original cause of contention. The remains of the
animal, on which the Polyp feeds, are evacuated at the mouth, the only
opening in the body. The species are multiplied by a kind of vegetation,
one or two, or even more young ones, emerging gradually from the sides
of the parent animal; and these young ones are frequently again prolific
before they drop off; so that it is no uncommon thing to see two or
three generations at once on the same Polyp. But the most astonishing
fact respecting this animal is, that if a Polyp be cut in pieces, it is
not destroyed, but is multiplied by dissection. It may be cut in every
direction that fancy can suggest, and even into very minute divisions,
and not only the parent stock will remain uninjured, but every section
will become an animal. Even when turned inside out, it suffers no
material injury; for, in that state it will soon begin to take food, and
to perform all its other natural functions.
M. Trembley, of Geneva, ascertained that different portions of one Polyp
could be engrafted on another. Two transverse sections brought into
contact will quickly unite and form one animal, though each section
should belong to a different species. The head of one species may be
engrafted on the body of another. When one Polyp is introduced by the
tail into another’s body, the two heads unite and form one individual.
Pursuing these strange operations, M. Trembley gave scope to his fancy
by repeatedly splitting the head and part of the body; he thus formed
hydras more complicated than ever struck the imagination of the most
romantic fabulist.
Though so difficult to destroy by division, all the Polyps, even those
which form the corals, may be easily killed by depriving them of
moisture, when they soon shrivel up, and the tissue of their skins is
completely destroyed.
[Illustration]
OF these Fresh-water Polypi, only a few kinds are known, but the sea
nourishes a multitude of species which closely resemble the Hydras in
their structure, from hence called Hydroid Polyps by Cuvier and many
other naturalists. Most of these are compound creatures, of the kind
shown in the above engraving, of which many species may be found on all
our shores. A horny tube runs branching over the surface of a seaweed,
or some other object, and from this, at intervals, rise slender stalks,
often branched in the most elegant manner. Upon the delicate branches we
find little horny cups, each of which is the habitation of a tiny Polyp,
furnished with a mouth and stomach, and with a circlet of slender arms
to enable it to capture its prey. Other species are enclosed only in a
soft membrane, but all rise from creeping roots.
[Illustration: THE SEA ANEMONES.]
BESIDES the Polypi just mentioned as nearly related to the fresh-water
_Hydra_ and those forming the different kinds of Corals, the sea
produces a vast number of other Zoophytes, the commonest kinds of which
are well known as Sea Anemones. These animals are found adhering to
rocks on all shores; they consist of a rather thick column, the base of
which forms an adhesive disc, while its summit, which is also a disc,
shows a puckered mouth in the centre surrounded by several rows oftentacles. The tentacles are sometimes short and stout, sometimes long
and slender; they are generally adorned with vivid or delicate colours,
often disposed in rings and contrasting beautifully with the colours of
the stem and disc. In their expanded state they present a close
resemblance to a flower, and indeed vie with many flowers in beauty;
hence the name of _Animal Flowers_ was given to them formerly, and has
now given place to that of Sea Anemones, although they are rather to be
compared with those composite flowers in which numerous petal-like
flowerets radiate from a central disc. When contracted, the Sea Anemones
resemble soft knobs or buttons, with a depression at the top.
In describing the Stony Corals, the fact has been mentioned that the
Polyps, which may be regarded as the architects of those extraordinary
structures, are very similar to the Sea Anemones. In the latter, the
cavity surrounding the central stomach is partially divided into
chambers, by partitions, which run inwards from the circumference
towards the centre; in the Coral Polyps each of these partitions
produces a stony plate in its substance, and these plates form the rays
which occupy the interior of the Polyp-cell.
The Sea Anemones move slowly along by the action of their adhering disc,
somewhat in the same way that a snail or slug crawls upon the ground.
Their food is obtained by means of the tentacles which give them their
beautiful flower-like character, and to render them efficient organs for
this purpose they are endowed with a singular provision. The skin of the
tentacles, and, indeed, of most parts of the Sea Anemone is filled with
little cells or vesicles, each containing a spiral thread, which when
touched instantly darts forth, and penetrates the body coming in contact
with it. In this way, if a worm, a small fish, or any other soft animal
touches the tentacles of an Anemone, it is instantly transfixed with
innumerable delicate darts, which not only assist the tentacles in
holding the destined prey, but also seem to exercise a sort of numbing
influence upon the victim, deadening his struggles and rendering him an
easy conquest. He is then speedily passed by the tentacles to the
orifice of the mouth, and swallowed without mercy.
One of the commonest kinds of these Polyps is the _Mesembryanthemum_
(_Actinia Mesembryanthemum_), a large, usually liver-coloured species,
with a row of blue warts round the margin just outside the tentacles. It
is found abundantly on the rocks of our Southern coast especially. The
_Thick-horned Anemone_ (_Actinia_ or _Brusodes crassicornis_) is another
large and fine species, usually of a red colour, with very thick
tentacles, which are generally white with pinkish bands.--The _Sea
Cereus_ (_Anthea Cereus_) has long slender tentacles, which are not
retracted in the same way as those of the Sea Anemones generally. The
tentacles are usually tipped with a pink or purple tint; they are
constantly waving about in the water in search of prey; and instantly
seize upon any creature that passes over them.--The _Parasitic Anemone_
(_Actinia parasitica_) and the _Cloak Anemone_ (_Adamsia palliata_)
always attach themselves to univalve shells which are occupied by Hermit
Crabs.
JELLY FISHES.
THE animals commonly known as Jelly Fishes are free-swimming Radiata;
they were described by Cuvier and most succeeding naturalists under the
name of _Acalephæ_, from a Greek word signifying “_nettles_,” because
many of them produce a stinging sensation when they come in contact with
the skin. Their name in several languages signifies “Sea Nettles.” The
Acalephæ of Cuvier are now regarded as belonging to the same class as
the Hydroid Polyps.
The common Medusa (_Medusa amita_), which may serve as an example of
this group, is found in great abundance round our coasts; it is of a
circular form, convex above, concave beneath, like an umbrella, the
stick of which is represented by a thick stalk, containing the mouth and
stomach, and terminated by four long arms for seizing the animal’s food.
The skin of these, and of the body and its appendages generally is full
of the thread-cells described as occurring in the Sea Anemones, and it
is to these that the stinging power of the Medusæ is due. The motion of
the Medusæ through the water is effected by the alternate expansion and
contraction of its umbrella, which is slightly inclined in the direction
towards which the creature is moving, and it is a most beautiful sight
to look down upon a fleet of these animals, all advancing in the same
direction at a depth of two or three feet in the water, as may often be
seen in fine weather at the mouths of our rivers.
At first sight it may be thought that the Medusæ have but little in
common with the Hydroid or any other Polyps, but it has been fully
proved by late researches that the young animal produced from the egg of
the Medusa is a regular Polyp, which adheres by its base, and obtains
its food by the agency of a crown of tentacles surrounding its mouth;
nay, it even propagates in this form by pushing out buds exactly in the
manner described in the case of the fresh-water Hydra. In course of
time, however, the body of this Polyp becomes elongated, and its surface
is marked into rings, the grooves separating which gradually become
deeper until the whole body breaks up into a number of saucer-like
segments, each of which becomes a Medusa. How fully does this
extraordinary mode of reproduction show that the wonders of the Creator
are no less striking in the lowest than in the highest of his creatures,
and that for all, from the highest to the lowest, the same prescient
care has been exercised, the same goodness evinced. Verily, we may
follow the pious example of the great Linnæus, and exclaim with the
Psalmist, “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made
them all.”
APPENDIX
OF
FABULOUS ANIMALS.
OUR OBJECT in the previous pages has been to combine interest with
amusement, and to present truth unmixed with fable. Yet considering that
some fictitious animals are conventionally recognised in poetry and
painting, we have thought it desirable to subjoin an account of them.
The Sphinx, the Dragon, the Unicorn, Pegasus, and the Centaur, are so
familiar to us, both in sculpture and fable, that some notice of these
mythological creations seems indispensable.
[Illustration: THE SPHINX.]
PROVIDENCE has ordered, that as the plains of Egypt are not visited by
showers, they should be fertilized by the overflowing of the Nile, which
takes place annually, a little after the summer solstice. This
phenomenon, the source of unfailing fertility in the vales of the Delta
up to Memphis, and around the bases of the majestic and venerable
pyramids, was of the greatest importance to the people of Misraim, from
the far-famed Pharos to the frontiers of Ethiopia. It was therefore
their interest to calculate correctly the season, the month, and nearly
the hour, when the flood should begin; the more so, as the sudden
invasion of the waters was dangerous to the inhabitants of the low
lands, the meadows, and the fens, and often destroyed the cottages, and
drowned the flocks and the improvident villagers. The star Sirius was
remarked to emerge from the blazing halo of the sun about the time of
the rising of the Nile; it was a warning, and was accordingly called the
Dog-star, as if barking from the heavens to apprise the inhabitants of
the valleys of the impending rise of the waters. The Egyptian
astronomers, to mark the period, combined the signs of the zodiac
answering to the two months during which the overflowing took place.
These signs happening to be Leo and Virgo, the mystical fancy of the
ancient Egyptians united them in one, and thus formed the figure of the
Sphinx, which has the head and breast of a woman, and the body of a
lion. This was a great enigma to the Greeks and Phœnicians who
travelled to Egypt; they saw the monster, but could not comprehend its
meaning. On returning to their respective countries, they invented the
fable of the Sphinx offering riddles at the gates of Thebes, and
destroying those who could not unravel them; having probably been told
by the supercilious sages of that nation, that they who could not guess
the meaning of the Sphinx were to forfeit their life in atonement for
their ignorance. Long afterwards, the real sense of the symbol was
forgotten, and Egypt in her superstition began to worship the emblem, of
which innumerable figures still exist in that once flourishing country.
The Sphinx has been introduced in heraldry to adorn the gorgets of those
general officers who distinguished themselves against the French on the
banks of the Nile; it has also been adopted as an ornament in various
decorations; and two specimens, exquisitely wrought, are seen on the
front wall of Syon House, at Brentford, the seat of his Grace the Duke
of Northumberland.
This chimerical figure is generally represented as sitting and at rest;
a graceful attitude adopted by Egyptian sculptors, and imitated by the
Greeks and Romans.
[Illustration: THE DRAGON.]
THIS fabulous animal, which figures largely in ancient romances, was
supposed to be the tutelary genius of fresh-water springs in the bosom
of dark forests and enchanted rocks. Dragons were harnessed to the car
of Ceres; they were the guardians of the golden apples of the
Hesperides, and of the golden fleece of Colchis; and in several parts of
the world set as protectors to the carbuncles and other precious stones
hidden at the bottom of wells and fountains. They are represented as
scaly serpents, with webbed feet, and with wings similar to those of a
bat; having been, it seems, originally a hieroglyphic emblem of the
dangerous influence of an undue combination of air and water. Thus the
serpent Python was the allegory of a pestilence, originating from a
union of mephitic air and moisture. They have been long supporters to
the arms of the city of London, as if the guardians of the wealth which
commerce brings hither from all the parts of the world. Four of them are
placed in fanciful attitudes, and beautifully carved, on the pedestal of
the monument of London.
[Illustration: THE WIVERN, WOLVERINE.]
THIS fabulous animal somewhat resembles the dragon, only that, instead
of four, it has two legs, which are webbed, and armed with claws. There
is no doubt that this imaginary being was originally conceived in the
brains of the poets and romancers, in times of chivalry, when the
Crusaders overran the plains of Palestine and Assyria. The heat of the
climate in some vales at the foot of the mountains, which intersect the
deserts of those countries, was favourable to the breeding of all sorts
of serpents, some of an immense size. The European soldiers of Godfrey
and Richard, unaccustomed to such sights, were easily frightened,
whenever they met those monsters on the sedgy banks of small lakes,
under the shade of cedars and palm-trees, where they appeared as if
posted to guard the sacred waters, so precious in so hot a country; and
magnified in their idle tales, when inactive in camps, the bulk of the
serpent they had seen. The castle of Lusignan, in the province of
Poitou, was supposed to contain one of those winged serpents. It is a
very ancient armorial bearing, and now stands as supporter to the arms
of several illustrious houses.
[Illustration: THE COCKATRICE, OE BASILISK.]
THE fruitful imagination of man knows hardly any bounds. The animal
which bears the name of Basilisk was originally supposed to be a
serpent, with a sort of comb or crown on its head: but that was not
sufficiently marvellous. It was supposed also to be hatched from a
cock’s egg, upon which a snake had performed the office of incubation;
and the animal had the head of a cock, and the wings and tail of a
dragon. Hatched near a spring of water, the common resort of serpents,
it was asserted that, frightened at his own extraordinary shape, he soon
precipitated himself to the bottom, whence, by the mortal look from his
fiery eyes, he had the power of killing whoever dared to gaze at him.
There are no less than four kinds of basilisks mentioned by various
authors. One burnt up everything near him, and reduced the place he
lived in to a complete desert; another kind had the power of producing a
stony rigidity in whoever looked at them, which was followed by death;
or the gazers’ flesh fell from their bones. The basilisk was said to be
killed by carrying a mirror to its lair; and the creature encountering
the reflection of its own baleful glance, was killed with its own
weapons.
[Illustration: THE GRYPHON, OR GRIFFIN,]
WAS originally an emblem of life. It was used to adorn funeral monuments
and sepulchres. The upper part of this allegorical animal resembles the
eagle, the king of the birds, and the rest the lion, the king of beasts;
which is said to imply that man, who lives upon the earth, cannot
subsist without air. In later times it was supposed that the Gryphon was
posted as a jailor at the entrance of enchanted castles and caverns
where subterraneous treasures were concealed. Milton compares Satan in
his flight to the Gryphon, in the following beautiful passage:
“As when a Gryphon through the wilderness,
With winged course o’er hill or moory dale,
Pursues the Arimaspian, who, by stealth,
Had from his wakeful custody purloined
The guarded gold; so eagerly the fiend,
O’er bog or steep, through strait, rough, dense, or rare,
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies.”
The _Arimaspians_ were Asiatic wizards, who, by magic, used to obtain a
knowledge of the places where treasures lay hidden. Their incessant
wranglings with the Gryphons about gold-mines are mentioned by Herodotus
and Pliny. Lucan says that they inhabited Scythia, and adorned their
hair with gold; that they had but one eye in the middle of the forehead,
and lived on the banks of the gold-sanded river Arimaspes.
Virgil, in his eighth Pastoral, mentions this animal as if really
existing, but does not give us any description of it; and Claudian, in
his Epistle to Serena, alludes to the supposed fact of their keeping
watch over masses of gold in the bosom of northern mountains.
THE PHŒNIX.
HERODOTUS, Pliny, and nearly sixty other classical authors, have related
marvellous stories of this bird, all of which are of course fabulous.
The Phœnix, they say, inhabits the plains of Arabia, and is about the
size of an eagle, with gorgeous plumage of purple and gold. He is the
only one of his kind in the world. At the approach of death, he builds
himself a nest of aromatic herbs, and on it yields up his life. From his
marrow proceeds a worm, which shortly becomes a young Phœnix, whose
first duty is to discharge the obsequies of his sire. For this purpose
he collects a quantity of myrrh, which he moulds into the shape of an
egg, as large as he can conveniently carry, and then scooping it out, he
deposits the body of his sire in the inside. Having stopped it up again
with myrrh, he carries it to the Temple of the Sun in Egypt, where he
devoutly places it on the altar. This is the only time that he is seen
during his life, which lasts five hundred years. According to others,
after preparing a funeral pile of rich herbs and spices, he burns
himself, but from his ashes revives in all the freshness of youth.
From late mythological researches it is conjectured that the Phœnix
is a symbol of five hundred years, of which the conclusion was
celebrated by a solemn sacrifice, in which the figure of a bird was
burnt. His being restored to youth signifies that the new springs from
the old.
THE MERMAID, OR SIREN.
THE existence of this animal, half a woman and half a fish, has long
been talked of, believed, disbelieved, and doubted. Homer is the first
who speaks of such beings, which he styles _Sirens_; but we do not find
that he gives any description of their shape; however, it was soon
asserted that the Sirens were, as Horace, in his “Art of Poetry,”
describes them:
“Above, a lovely maid; a fish below.”
The Sirens were three sisters, whose voice was so delightfully
harmonious and enticing, that no resistance could be made against its
powerful charms; but “’twas death to hear,” for they led the navigators
and their ships to certain destruction among the rocks that bordered the
dangerous coasts which they inhabited, near the shores of Italy.
The belief in the existence of Mermaids has been current at different
periods; indeed, some years ago, several persons made depositions before
a magistrate, that they had seen Mermaids come out of the sea and play
on the rocks, but that they sprang into their element before they were
able to secure them.
A creature, said to be a dried Mermaid, was exhibited in London about
the year 1828; but it was afterwards discovered to be the body of a
monkey artfully attached to the dried tail of a salmon.
THE KRAKEN.
THIS creature is another fabulous inhabitant of the sea. It is said to
be three or four miles in breadth, and to live generally at the bottom
of the sea, on the Norway coast. When it moves the commotion of the sea
is so violent that it upsets boats and even small ships; and when it
comes to the surface, it is generally mistaken for an island.
[Illustration: THE DOLPHIN.]
THIS is the Dolphin of heraldry, and as fabulous an animal as any here
mentioned, as may be seen by comparing it with the figure of the real
Dolphin, given with the description in a former part of this work. This
fish was said to curl up his back to carry his favourites over the seas
without wetting them; and to assume the most brilliant colours in dying,
changing from a bright blue to as bright a yellow, and then to red and
green, &c. &c.
[Illustration: THE UNICORN.]
THIS is another offspring of the lively and fruitful fancy of man. It is
represented as a compound of the horse and stag, the head and body
belong to the former, and the hoofs to the latter, while the horn, the
tufts, and the tail are anomalies. This animal holds a high rank in
heraldry, and is one of the supporters of the royal arms of England.
The Unicorn is often mentioned in the Scriptures, and by many
commentators is supposed to be the rhinoceros. From the book of Job we
learn that it was not only an animal of considerable strength, but also
of a very fierce and intractable disposition--“Will the Unicorn be
willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib? Canst thou bind the Unicorn
with his band in the furrow? or will he harrow the valleys for thee?
Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great? or wilt thou leave
thy labour to him? Wilt thou believe him, that he will bring home thy
seed, and gather it into thy barn?” Ch. xxxix. ver. 9--11. In the book
of Psalms, xcii. ver. 10. “My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a
Unicorn.”
THE PEGASUS.
ANOTHER liberty has been taken with the horse. Mythology has added wings
to its elegant figure, and called it _Pegasus_. This animal, it is said,
sprang from the blood of Medusa, when Perseus had cut off her head; and
immediately afterwards flew upwards towards heaven, but stopped short,
and alighted on Mount Helicon, where he struck the ground with his foot,
and instantly the fountain Hippocrene burst from the ground. During his
residence on Mount Helicon, Pegasus became a great favourite with the
Muses, who resided occasionally on that lofty mountain; and still, when
any one attempts extravagant flights of poetry, he is said to have
mounted on his Pegasus, as it was difficult to approach the Muses when
raised so high. On the contrary, the Castalian fountain on Mount
Parnassus was more accessible, and inspired poetry of a gentler nature.
But to return to Pegasus; he was at length tamed by Neptune, or Minerva,
and lent by the latter to Bellerophon, to enable him to conquer the
horrid monster called the Chimera, which was always shifting its place,
and vomiting forth flames and smoke. After the victory was achieved,
Bellerophon attempted to fly up to heaven; but Pegasus threw his rider,
and flying up to heaven without him, was changed into the constellation
of stars which still bears his name. Pegasus is sometimes confounded
with the Hippogriph, or _Ippogrifo_ of Ariosto, which is often seen in
coats of arms.
THE CENTAUR.
LIKE the Sphinx, this creature is a compound of the brute and human
form, exhibiting the body of a man united to that of a horse, the former
rising from the chest of the latter. Absurd as such a combination must
appear to the anatomist, and ill adapted as it seems for agility, it is
not wholly devoid of grace, and is very frequently met with in antique
sculpture. According to Grecian mythology, these beings inhabited
Thessaly; and poetry has celebrated their combats with Hercules,
Theseus, and Pirithous, the latter of whom was the leader of the
Lapithæ, a people who vanquished the Centaurs. Their fabulous existence
had its origin in that love of the marvellous, which is always found to
exist in the earlier stages of society. Hence the natives of Thessaly
being distinguished for their skill in horsemanship, at a time when
their neighbours were unacquainted with the art of riding, they would be
described as combining the powers both of the human and the equine race;
in the same manner as some of the American tribes, when they first
beheld the Spaniards mounted on horses, mistook them for a different
race of beings from themselves, supposing them to be half men and half
quadrupeds. It is by such errors that fiction, whether poetry or
painting be its vehicle, creates those fanciful beings and shapes which
delight the imagination.