ANIMAL CANNONEERS AND SHARP-SHOOTERS. 257 



A South American bombardier takes precedence, however, of 

 all insect cannoneers, inasmuch as its broadsides are accompanied 

 by both sound and smoke. Mr. Westwood, a distinguished 

 English entomologist, quotes Burchell as stating that "while 

 resting for the night on the banks of one of the large South 

 American rivers, he went out with a lantern to make an astronom- 

 ical observation, accompanied by one of his black servant boys ; 

 and as they were proceeding, their attention was directed to 

 numerous beetles running about upon the shore, which, when 

 captured, proved to be specimens of a large species of Brachinus. 

 On being seized, they immediately began to play off their artillery, 

 burning and staining the flesh to such a degree that only a few 

 specimens could be captured with the naked hand, leaving a 

 mark which remained a considerable time. Upon observing the 

 whitish vapour with which the explosions were accompanied, the 

 negro exclaimed in his broken English, with evident surprise, 

 *' Ah, massa, they make smoke.'' 



Another beetle, belonging to a different family (Faussidce) is 

 an accomplished cannoneer. This insect has been described by 

 Captain Boyes, an English naturalist, who noticed that it discharged 

 a fluid acidulous in scent and having caustic properties. The 

 discharges were accompanied by sound and vapour. Says he, 

 " A circumstance so remarkable induced me to determine its 

 truth, for which purpose I kept it " (a Paussus) " alive till the 

 next morning, and, in order to certify myself of the fact, the 

 following experiments were resorted to. Having prepared some 

 test-paper by colouring it with a few petals of a deep red oleander, 

 I gently turned the Paussus over it, and immediately placed my 

 finger on the insect, at which time I distinctly heard a crepita- 

 tion, which was repeated in a few seconds on the pressure being 

 renewed, and each discharge was accompanied by a vapour-like 

 steam, which was emitted to the distance of half an inch, and 

 attended by a very strong and penetrating odour of nitric acid." 



But the strangest cannoneer in the entire animal kingdom is a 

 naked mollusc called Onchidium. It inhabits the sea-shores of 

 China and Japan, of the Malayan Archipelago, of North Australia, 

 and of East Africa. This animal is shell-less, but its back is 

 covered by a coriaceous or leather-like integument. The cephalic 



