— 196 — 



edition of Redi (1778) contains a supplement by Girolamo 

 Gaspari (1) from Verona (1. e. p. 149), who states quite di- 

 stinctly that Redi only denoiinced the error, and tliat it was 

 Vallisnieri who explained its origin, by discovering certain 

 bee-like iiies wliich insert their eggs into the skins of animals. 

 But this discovery of Vallisnieri was not quite up to the 

 mark; what he discovered, were Oestridae of the genns Hypo- 

 derma^ and not E. tenax. Hy^Dodermae are bot-fiies some of 

 whicli look more like hnmble-bees, than honey-bees; their 

 larvae occiir in the skin of oxen, and of different kinds of deer, 

 including reindeer. Vallisnieri was also mistaken when he took 

 the bot of the borse {Gastrtis equi), whose larva lives in the 

 stomach of this animai, for the representative of the wasp, 

 which the ancient writers thought was generated from carcasses 

 of horses. It is a fly of the genns Helophihis, which passed for 

 a wasp among the ancients; Helophilus is a dose relative of 

 Eristalts; it has, like Eristalis, a rat-tailed larva, which lives in 

 putrescent matter. But in its colouring Helophilus resembles a 

 wasp (black, with yellow stripes and spots), while Eristalis 

 resembles a bee. And yet, that Vallisnieri knew E. tenax, may 

 be inferred from bis words : « that stout and stupid fly, which 

 « is bred from certain worms, provided with a tail, and so- 

 « metimes called aquatic intestines, {intestini acquatici). » (Val- 

 lisnieri, Esperieìize etc. p. 149). On the same page Vallisnieri 

 gives instances of the confusion between the terms of bees 

 and flies in ancient authors, and quotes, among others, Lam- 

 pridius, Life of Heliogahalus, Chap. 26. I translate this passage 

 of Lampridius : « Kb a gift to bis parasites, Heliogahalus 

 « oftentimes sent them vessels filled with frogs, scorpions, 

 « snakes, and other disgusting animals. Sudi vessels were so- 



(1) Dr. G. Gaspari (1. e-) quotes from VaUisnieri's Dialogo fra 'l 2[alpighi, e Plinio, 

 Venezia, 1700. I have not seen this work but I possess bis : Esperienae ed Osserva- 

 zioni etc. seconcl edition, 1726. Antonio Vallisnieri (1661-1730) was Professor in Padua. 



