FLIES, 179 



fluid, has been highly celebrated for its sup- 

 posed efficacy in rheumatic pains, &c. when 

 used as an embrocation on the parts affected ; 

 for this purpose also the oil expressed from 

 the whole insect has been used with equal 

 success. 



Meloe Vesicatorius. — Spanish Blister 

 Fly. 



The Spanish Fly, is an insect of very 

 great beauty, being entirely of the^ richest 

 gilded grass-green, with black antennae. Its 

 shape is lengthened, and the abdomen, which 

 is pointed, extends somewhat beyond the 

 wing-sheaths : its usual length is about an 

 inch. This celebrated insect, the Cantharis 

 of the Materia Medica, forms, as is ^^i^ll 

 known, the safest, and most efficacious epis- 

 pastic or blister plaister, raising after the 

 space of a few hours, the cuticle, and causing 

 a plentiful serous discharge from the skin. 



