ORDER II.—BUGS. 73 
Mr. Westwood, in his “ Introduction to the Modern 
Classification of Insects,” says, that of one hundred and 
fifty species of Cicada contained in the Royal Museum at 
Berlin, seventy are from America, fifty from Africa, twen- 
ty-five from Asia, including Java, ten from the south of 
Europe, and six or eight from New Holland; showing that 
it is chiefly in the tropical parts of the world that the larg- 
est and greatest number of species are found. 
The Indians of South America say and believe that the 
Lyerman (Cicada tibicen) is changed into the Lantern-fly 
(Fulgora laternaria), whose cap, in the night, emits a light 
similar to that of a lantern. 
I have several times spoken of the impostures to which 
those are subjected who are ignorant of Natural History. 
There have been people who considered themselves well 
educated, that have actually believed and circulated such 
absurd fables as, e. g., that there are whole races of men 
with tails like those of the monkey tribe, of Hottentot 
women with natural aprons, of American Indians without 
a beard, and of Sirens, Mermaids, and the like. In the 
Natural History of Insects, too, marvelous stories are in- 
troduced by travelers in foreign countries, who have im- 
plicitly relied upon the reports of the ignorant natives, and 
whose stories, however absurd, have gained credence. This 
is the case with regard to the Lantern-fly, which is a native 
of South America, but which from its bodily construction 
belongs to the order we are now describing. ‘This insect 
is provided with a comparatively large bladder, which is 
placed before its head, and from which, it is said, comes a 
strong light, as bright as that of a candle. This lightning 
story originated more than a century and a half ago, from 
the work of the celebrated Madame Merian, who lived sev- 
eral years in Surinam, and who says that one day the In- 
dians brought her a large number of living Lantern-flies, 
which she put into a box, but they made so much noise 
D 
