NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 255 
written me word that he once, and but once, saw these insects on a 
vine at Weymouth in Dorsetshire ; which, it is here to be observed, 
is a sea-port town to which the coccus might be conveyed by 
shipping. 
As many of my-readers may possibly never have heard of this 
strange and unusual insect, I shall here transcribe a passage from 
a natural history of Gibraltar, written by the Reverend John 
White, late Vicar of Blackburn in Lancashire, but not yet 
published :— 
“Tn 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 suddenly overspread on all the woody branches with 
large lumps of a white fibrous substance resembling spiders’ webs, 
or rather raw cotton. It was of a very ciammy quality, sticking 
fast to everything 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 barx of the vine. The 
etree had a plentiful crop of grapes set, when this pest appeared 
upon it; but the fruit was manifestly injured by this foul incum- 
brance. It remained all the summer, still increasing, and loaded 
the woody and bearing branches to a vast degree. I often pulled 
off great quantities 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 afterwards of M. de Reaumur, I found this 
matter perfectly described and accounted for. Those husky shells 
which I had observed, were no other than the female coccus, from 
whose side: this cotton-like substance exudes, and serves as a 
covering and security 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 male is a winged insect ; and that the black dust 
which I saw was undoubtedly the excrement of the females, which 
is eaten by ants as well as flies. Though the utmost severity of 
our winter did not destroy these insects, yet the attention of the 
gardener in a summer or two has entirely relieved my vine from 
this filthy annoyance. 
As we have remarked above that insects are often conveyed from 
one country to another in a very unaccountable manner, I shall 
