312 DIRECT BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS. 



That was too coarse; but then forthwith 



He ventures boldly on the pith 



Of sugar'd rush, and eats the sag 



And well-bestrutted bee's sweet bag; 



Gladding his palate with some store 



Of emmets' eggs: what would he more? 



But beards of mice, a newt's stcvv'd thigh, 



A bloated earwig and a fly ; 



With the red-capp'd worm that's shut 



Within the concave of a nut, 



Brown as his tooth: a little moth 



Late fatten'd in a piece of cloth; 



With wither'd cherries; mandrakes' cars; 



Moles' eyes; to these the slain stag's tears; 



The unctuous dewlaps of a snail; 



The broke heart of a niglitingale 



O'ercome in music ; 



This done, commended 



Grace by his priest, the feast is ended. — 



Having considered insects as adding to the general 

 stock of food, I shall next request your attention while 

 I detail to you how far the medical science is indebted 

 to them. Had I addressed you a century ago, I could 

 have made this an ample history. Amongst scores of 

 infallible panaceas, I should have recommended the 

 woodlouse as a solvent and aperient; powder of silk- 

 worm for vertigo and convulsions ; millepedes against 

 the jaundice; earwigs to strengthen the nerves; pow- 

 dered scorpion for the stone and gravel ; fly-water for 

 disorders in the eyes; and the tick for erysipelas. I 

 should have prescribed five gnats as an excellent purge ; 



