XVI 



The Cantharides or .Spanish Flies, is a species of insect every one has heard of. Thej- 

 are brouoht us from abroad, and used medicinally ; but principally to raise blisters. For 

 these we pay great sums of money to foreign countries : but a proper examination into the 

 nature of insects might save us the necessity of doing so ; for let me not be disbelieved, 

 when I say this very species of the cantharides is found in England.* Might, not, there- 

 fore, a close inquiry into the subject, spare us the trouble and expense of applying to 

 foreioners for this article ? But are the medicinal virtues of the cantharides confined entirely 

 to that species ? Is there none other found in England, answering the same purpose, which 

 we might have by seeking for ? If I am not mis-informed, there is. The Musk Beetle, or 

 Cerambix Moschata of Linnaeus, is found on the bodies of willow-trees in the month of 

 July, or sooner, if the weather is favourable. This insect, I have been confidently informed 

 by an eminent surgeon (the late Mr. Guy) who tried it, has the same \-irtues, and produces 

 the same eflFects as the cantharides ; being capable, when properly prepared, of procuring 

 a strong blister in as short a space of time as the other. Whether there is not other 

 insects to be found in this kingdom, whose properties, when examined, might be found 

 similar to the cantharides, is a matter that time only will clear up. 



I cannot here pass unmentioned the effects of ants, whose volatile effluvia, arising from 

 their colonies or nests is so great, that a hand rubbed thereon, and applied immediately to 

 the nose of a fainting person, exhilarates and refi-eshes equal to the spirit of hartshorn, or 

 what is called sal volatile. • 



Such are the known medicinal uses of insects ; and under the article of clothing they 

 serve us in a more conspicuous manner. To many thousands of persons they afford the 

 means of living with comfort and happiness. Even kings are indebted to them for their 

 grandest garments. Immense fortunes have been procured, by their means, to persons in 

 trade, and the great number of people who daily subsist by manufacturing silk, either by 

 spinning, weaving, or dyeing it, have the greatest reason to thank Providence for the 

 institution of this insect. To the last, the Cochineal (Coccinella Cacti of Linnaeus) affords 

 him the power of giving our silks and cloths the most beautiful and lasting colours ; being 

 without it unable to produce such proofs of his ingenuity ; not to mention many other 

 occasions wherein this insect is peculiarly serviceable. Nor is there any part of the world 

 where they do not directly, or secondarily, serve mankind for food. In every kingdom of 

 the earth, where they are to be found, shrimps, prawns and crabs are eaten by all ranks and 

 degrees of people, if animal food is allowed them ; and our cray-fish or lobsters must not 



for the purpose. This insect is of a hlue colour, aud found in the fields during the months of April and May, in the state 1 have 

 mentioned ; the blue colour is not shining and beautiful as that on the belly and legs of the blue dung beetle, but of a fine mazarine 

 blue, without that polish. It is about an inch and half long (the males are shorter), the head aud thorax about five-eighths of an 

 inch, being very small and slender for the size of the insect. 



• 1 have seen in the cabinet of a very curious lady, sister to Ralph Willett, Esq. of Dean Street, Soho, not less than forty of 

 this species, being taken near his seat at Morley Place, near Winbourn, in Dorsetshire, where she informed me they were found in 

 great plenty during the month of June or July, freiiueiitiug the privet trees. I have also found them in the environs of London, 

 but not plentifully. 



