OF SELBORNE. 295 
White, late vicar of Blackburn, in Lancashire, but 
not yet, published : 
“In the year 1770, a vine which grew on the . 
east side of my house, and which had produced 
the finest crops of grapes for years past, was sud. 
denly overspread, on all the woody branches, with 
large lumps of a white fibrous substance resem. 
bling spiders’ webs, or, rather, raw cotton. It was 
of a very clammy quality, sticking fast to every- 
thing that touched it, and capable of being spun 
into long threads. At first I suspected it to be the 
product of spiders, but could find none. Nothing 
was to be seen connected with it but many brown 
oval husky shells, which by no means looked like 
insects, but rather resembled bits of the dry bark 
of the vine. The tree had a plentiful crop of 
grapes set when this pest appeared upon it, but the 
fruit was manifestly injured by this foul encum- 
brance. It remained all the summer, still increas. 
ing, and loaded the woody and bearing branches 
to a vast degree. I often pulled off great quanti. 
ties by handfuls, but it was so slimy and tenacious 
that it could by no means be cleared. The grapes 
never filled to their natural perfection, but turned 
watery and vapid. Upon perusing the works after. 
ward of M. de Reaumur, I found this matter per- 
fectly described and accounted for. Those husky 
shells which I had observed were no other than the 
female coccus, from whose sides this cotton-like 
substance exudes, and serves as a covering and se- 
curity for their eggs.” 
To this account I think proper to add, that 
though the female cocci are stationary, and seldom 
remove from the place to which they stick, yet the 
