f 3+ On Medical Entomology. 



which nourishes this valuable insect was not forgotten by 

 the doctor. 



To say that this discovery has given birth to, and served 

 as a l)asi3 for, every thing written on the odontalgic pro- 

 perty of the coccinellne, chrysonieloe, weevils, and beetles, 

 IS sufficient to show the value that ought to be attached 

 to it. 



Mkloe — Meloc. The insects v,'hich constitute this 



genus have moniliform antenna;, the last joint of which is 

 ovoid : the thorax is rounded ; the elytra are soft and flexible ; 

 the head is bent and gibbous, and the claws double. 



The Mkloe PnoscARABEUs and the Meloe maialis 

 are both of a blackish blue colour. The latter has the 

 edge of the segments of the abdomen of a copper colour. 

 Both have the elytra short, and without wings. The an- 

 tennae of the males arc swelled in the middle, and irregu- 

 larly bent. These insects, which are seen creeping in the 

 spring-time among the grass, feed chiefly on ranunculuses 

 and hellebore, and diflFuse over all their articulations, when 

 touched, a yellow foetid oil. They were considered bv the 

 antients as mfallible remedies for the hydrophobia. They 

 have even been much extolled by some of the moderns*. 

 Unfortunately the praises so liberally bestowed upon it have 

 not been justified by experience ; and notwithstanding the 

 multitude of recipes which have been boasted of for the cure 

 of the bite of a mad dog, we scarcely know the means of 

 palliating the dreadful symptoms of this horrid malady. 



In consequence of the irritating quality possessed by the 

 proscarabea and the may- bug, a place has been assigned to 

 them in the materia medica. They are employed with suc- 

 cess as rubefacicnto : they might even be made a substitute, 

 though a weak one, for the interesting species of which I 

 am about to speak, in cases when it is impossible to pro- 

 cure the latter. 



Meloe vesicatorius, Lytta vesicatoria Fair., 

 Cantharis vesicatoria, the awthandes of the shops, 

 Geoff. These valuable insects are known by thQ superb 

 golden green colour with which they are ornamented. 

 Their elytra .ire of the same length as the bodv, and their 

 antenna; are black and lilii'orm. Cantharides live in great 

 bodies in the warm and temperate regions, on ash, willows. 

 Sec. They diffuse to a great distance a strong and disagrce- 



* Srllc Ilandbuch dcr Med. prax. Amiry des i/ers. This author relates 

 the history of a cluld six years of age, \%lio having swallowed a mcloe 

 whole, bruised in bramly, died by aii inflammation of the secreting and 

 excreting orgins of urine. 



able 



