i58 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL LITERATURE. 



(MUFFET'S THEATRUM 1NSECT0RUM.) 



[Continued from p. 32.] 



SUCH was the state of Entomological Literature 

 when Oxford University produced a learned 

 student of Nature, and more particularly of the branch 

 in which we are specially interested— Dr. Moufet or 

 Muffet. This Dr. Muffet (to quote Anthony Wood 

 in his " Athense Oxonienses,") was "educated in this 

 University"— we. Oxford— "and afterwards travelled 

 into divers countries in Europe, where he became 

 known to the most eminent physicians and chymists 

 of that time, and was doctorated in physic in some 

 noted university in his travels. ... He became much 

 honoured and beloved by Peregrine Bertie, Lord 

 Willoughbie of Eresbie, and esteemed the famous 

 ornament of the body of physicians, and the true 

 pattern of all polite and solid literature," &c. Such 

 was the man who, far from despising Entomology, 

 not only deemed it worthy of his attention, but even 

 made it the favourite study of his life. Dr. Muffet 

 wrote several books,* but his greatest achievement 

 was undoubtedly his " Theatrum insectorum." This 

 work he probably commenced during his travels on 

 the continent, where, at the different Universities, he 

 would have access to the numerous books he con- 

 sulted ; and, as Wood says, he became intimate 

 with the most scientific men of his time. I have 

 enumerated above all the notices of insects now 

 generally known to exist in printed books at that 

 period ; but Muffet in his book gives a list of 406 

 authors whose writings he had consulted in compiling 

 his own work. Many of them I find to be medical 

 writers who rank certain insects among their Materia 

 Medica, or on the other hand give recipes for the 

 cure of the baneful effects caused by bites and stings ; 

 others, again are names of well-known classical 

 authors— Greek and Latin— who draw similes from 

 insects and their economy ; but of a great number I 

 can find no mention, and I suppose we may conclude 

 that they were possibly only MSS., which have since 

 perished, with the names of their authors also. 



I must now digress a little to follow the vicissi- 

 tudes of Conrad Gesner's papers on Entomology. I 

 mentioned them above as having been purchased at 

 his death by Joachim Kamerarius, and afterwards 

 falling into the hands of Dr. Wotton, who sent them 

 to a publisher in London named Thomas Penn, also 

 a great student of Nature, and an observer of insects 

 in particular. For some reason or other Penn did 

 not fulfil his commission, and at his death these poor 



* De jure et praestantia Chymicorum medicamentorum 

 dialogus Apologeticus, Francof. 1584 : Ursell, 1602. Epistola: 

 cuinque medicinales (printed with 1602 edition of last work). 

 NosomanticaHippocratea; sive, &c. tec branc, 1598 (in nine 

 books). Health's Improvement: or Rules comprising and 

 discovering the nature, method, and manner of preparing all 

 sorts of Food used in the Nation ; 4to, London, 1055. ue 

 Anodinis Medicamentis Theses in medica, Laiihcus propositae ; 

 Basil, 1578. 



knocked-about papers fell into the hands of Dr. 

 Muffet, who purchased them along with some other 

 MSS. by Dr. Wotton and T. Penn, to incorporate 

 with his " Theatrum." We thus see that Thomas 

 Muffet's book contains the writings of Gesner, 

 Wotton, and Penn, which he weaves together into a 

 tangible form, adding and correcting from the 

 authors, whose names he enumerates at the com- 

 mencement of his work ; in addition to these, his 

 own observations and those of certain entomological 

 friends he seems to have had, form no small part 

 of the contents. Soon after completing this work, 

 Dr. Muffet seems to have died, leaving it in MS., 

 in which state it lay for many years almost forgotten. 

 Meanwhile, while Muffet had been writing his 

 book, and after his death, numerous other pub- 

 lications appeared, containing more or less brief 

 accounts of insects. These may be divided in the 

 same manner as before, to guide us in our search. 

 In the first class— books on medicine— we find 

 insects mentioned by Bauhin, who in 1598 published 

 a " History of the wonderful Medicinal Spring in 

 the Duchy of Wirtemburg, with many Figures of 

 various Insects found in the Neighbourhood." ; 

 This Bauhin obtained his greatest fame as a 

 botanist; he and his brother are said to have 

 laboured for forty years for the advancement of that 

 science. In the same class of books, insects are 

 casually treated of by Laurent Catelan, a chemist 

 of Montpellier.t by Angelinus.t and by Bertaldi.§ 

 Theodosius also, a learned doctor, in his " Letters on 

 Medicine," devotes one to Glow-worms.|| The 

 second class, which contains histories of countries, 

 includes Castaqueda's large " History of Oriental 

 India," If which mentions certain insects, and 

 Schwenkfeld's " Theriotrophium " ** in which, ac- 

 cording to the title, the "nature and use of certain 

 animals, birds, insects, &c, are set forth." In the 

 class in which we rank works on Natural History in 

 general— No. 3— we find several treatises appearing 

 about this time. The first in chronological order is 

 the work of Scaliger,ft in fifteen books, which 



* Historia admirabilis fontis Bollensis, in ducato Wirten- 

 burgico, cum plurimis figuris variorum Insectorum quae in et 

 circa hanc fontem repenuntur ; in 4 to, Mont.sbehgard., 1598 . 

 £1 German, in 4 to. Stutgarten, 1602. He also mentions insects 

 in De aquis medicatis nova methodus, in 4 to, Mont., r 605-7-1 2 , 

 and a book with no other title than "Vivitur Ingen.o caetera 

 mortis erunt" treats of insects and plants. 



f Demonstration des ingredients qui entrent dans la con- 

 fection de l'Alchermes ; in 121110, Montpel., 1609 and if 14. 



1 De verme admirando per nares egresso ; Ravenae, xbio. 



\ Confectio de Hyacintho et confectio alchermes, in 4to, 



T || U -De Lampyr'ida," In his Epistol. Medic, ep. 50, P- 3°5 I jn 

 Rvo Bale issT- He also mentions insects in an epistle guia 

 sit Verticellus, 3 Polypus, Cochlea. Spondylus," Epistol. Medic, 



ei V ftist'ona dell' Indie oriental! (translated from the Spanish 

 hv A Vlloa), 7 vols. 4to, Venezia, 1578. 



** Theriotropheum Silesia:, in quo animahum, quadrupedum, 

 reptilium, avium, piscium, insectorum natura vis et usus sex 

 libris perstringuntur : 4 to, L.gnic.i, 1603 and ' 6o 4- 



+f Exoticarum exerc.taUonum liber • xv. de subtUitete n. 

 Cardan- in 4 to, Paris, 1537; 8vo, Bale, 1560, 6tc. (often re 

 printed) i " IJe Cantharidibus"- de sub. ex. 184, P- °°5 | De 

 Apibus, Bombycibus et melle vesparum"-de sub. ex. 191. 

 p. 623 ; " De Locustis "— de sub. ex. 192, p. 025. 



