TEREDO. 159 



count of the Termites" (Phil. Trans. 1781), remarked 

 that the seaworms appear to have the same scavenger 

 ofl&ce allotted to them in the waters which the white 

 ants have on the land. It was also suggested by 

 Laurent and others that the Teredo might be occasion- 

 ally serviceable to us by assisting in the removal of 

 wrecks, sunk at the entrance of harbours, which would 

 otherwise obstruct navigation. The celebrated Redi 

 describes it, in a letter to his friend Megalotti, as being 

 not only eatable, but excelling all shell-fish, the 

 oyster not excepted, in its exquisite flavour. Nardo 

 likewise praises the Teredo, although in less rapturous 

 terms : he wonders why the Venetians, who call it 

 *' bisse del legno," do not eat it. I should, for my own 

 part, be surprised that any person having a stomach 

 could venture to try the experiment ; for the smell of 

 even a fresh ship worm is almost enough to turn one 

 sick. Ducks, however, seem to relish it, and not less 

 when it is in a half putrid state. As regards man, its 

 chief mission may be 



"To fill with worm -holes stately monuments" 



of his workmanship. Perhaps it is one of the creatures 

 made not so much for our use as for our punishment. 

 Southey tells us that Bellarmine allowed mosquitos and 

 other small deer free right of pasture upon his corporal 

 domains, being more indulgent to them than to heretics. 

 He thought they were created to afford exercise for our 

 patience, and moreover that it is unjust for us to inter- 

 rupt them in their enjoyment here, when we consider 

 that they have no other paradise to expect. Yet when 

 the cardinal controversialist gave breakfast, dinner, or 

 supper of this kind, he was far from partaking any 

 sympathetic pleasure in the happiness which he im- 



