INSECTS IN DECAYED PLANTS 89 
viscous fluid, that oozed from the bodies, and on drying, 
caused the parts to join firmly together; but though the 
bodies lived, the heads gave no sign of life; the trunks, 
with or without the heads, continued to live for five days. 
In case you should have the curiosity to see how these 
little creatures look, without seeking them in Kircher or 
Johnston, I send them to you, here enclosed, drawn from 
life, together with a drawing of one of their eggs, en- 
larged by means of a very fine microscope. You will no- 
tice that one end is oval and the other has a raised border, 
which resembles one of those divided, wooden eggs, 
that we use for boxes, and that screw together in the 
middle. 
I have gone from one subject to another, uncon- 
sciously, and must return to my previous remarks about 
the insects which appear to take origin in rotten plants; 
and I assure you that I have seen worms occur in all 
kinds of vegetation. Hence, it is not strange that Pliny 
and Dioscorides should have vaunted the marvelous dis- 
covery that macerated sweet basil, when exposed to the 
sun, breeds worms. From worms bred in decayed plants 
I have seen the common fly hatch out, and sometimes a 
gnat. But often from a single plant there would arise 
many generations of small, winged animals, so minute 
that Tertullian had good reason to call them: "unius 
puncti animalia." I recall that, on hyssop alone, on lav- 
ender and St. John's wort, besides flies and gnats, eight 
or more different generations of midges were born. I 
also found some worms on parsley similar to those that 
change to flies, but they were all hairy, and forming a 
circle with their bodies, would frequently spring about. 
I was unfortunate in not observing their subsequent 
transformations, as they all died before forming them- 
