178 BARON WALCKENAER ON THE INSECTS 



names ? Or is it a distinction erroneously establislied by grammarians 

 and lexicographers, who of one word slightly varied have made two 

 diflTerent words ? Whatever may be the fact, the consideration of it is 

 foreign to our present purpose, and will engage our attention at another 

 opportunity. We confine ourselves at present to collecting the facts of 

 the language as we derive them from the critical examination of the texts, 

 without anticipating the consequences which may be deduced from them. 



From what has been said we draAV the following conclusions : 



1st, That in the most learned ancient authors, and in those who have 

 treated ex professo of agriculture, natural history and geography, the 

 word Ips has never been employed except to denote the larva of an in- 

 sect very injurious to the vine. 



2nd, That in Homer, St. John Chrysostom, and lexicographers and 

 grammarians of the period of the decline of literature, the word Ips is 

 exclusively employed to denote the larva of an insect preying upon 

 horn. 



3rd, That the word Iks, whether it be considered as a different word 

 from Ij)s, or the same in another dialect, is employed by Alcman, and 

 the lexicographers and grammarians of the lower ages, to designate ex- 

 clusively a variegated insect, which injures the vine, and preys upon its 

 buds. 



VII. Spondyh or Sphondyle. — Aristotle in his Natural History of 

 Animals*, after describing the mode of coition of flies and beetles, adds 

 that the Spondyle (or Sphondyle), the Phalangium, and other insects 

 agree with them in this respect. 



I say Spondyle or Sphondyle, because the editors and translators of 

 Aristotle's work are divided upon this point. In the Greek text of 

 Schneider the word is Sphondyldi, in that of Camus Sphondyldi : they 

 each represent that it is an insect, because in this passage tlie meaning 

 is evident; but in another passage of the same work-f-, speaking of the 

 diseases of the horse, Aristotle mentions cases in which that animal 

 draws up tlie hip and drags the foot, and says, " the same thing occurs 

 if he devours the Staphylinus. The Staphylinus is of the same size and 

 appearance as the Sphondyle." 



M. Camus, in his translation, writes Sphondyle, and agrees with 

 Hesychius, who represents the Staphylinus, and consequently the Spon- 

 dyle, as an animal. M. Schneider, on the contrary, who this time also 

 writes Sphondyle, considers this word to be entirely different from Spon- 

 dyle, the name of an animal in the first passage which I have quoted. 

 M. Schneider, adopting the opinion of Scaliger, regards the Staphylinus, 



• Aristot., Hisf. Anim., book v. chap. 7, edit. Schneider, vol. ii. p. 181 of the 

 translation ; and vol. i. p. 190 of the Greek ; and book v. chap. 8. vol. i. p. 219 

 of the translation of Le Camus. 



t Aristot., book viii. chap. 24, Schneider, vol. iii. p. 276. 



