MARIA S1BILLA MERIAN. 45 



sun has been descending, and I have been perform- 

 ing the solemn service of the dead, one of these 

 creatures has lighted on a neighbouring plant, and 

 there commenced his evening hymn, and thus 

 disturbed me. At other times, attracted by the 

 lights at evening service, the noisy intruder will 

 enter my parish church, and distress the preacher 

 with his rival voice. If its jarring notes cannot be 

 said to drown my powerful organ, they are certainly 

 heard distinctly above every thing by the still 

 assembly. Madam Merian gives us an account of 

 her first discovery of the shining property of the 

 Fulgora, and tells us of the horror which seized her 

 when she opened the box to separate the quarrelling 

 inmates and saw it filled with fire. A glass full of 

 any of our luminous insects, when in health, is, 

 indeed, a splendid show. The plant is the mon- 

 strous or double variety of the pomegranate (Punica 

 Granatum^ L.), sometimes cultivated as an orna- 

 ment of our gardens." 



We have now mentioned some of the principal 

 plates of this splendid work, and although there are 

 many others of great interest and value, an account 

 of them would exceed the limits which we can 

 assign to the present notice. Towards the close of 

 the volume, the drawing and engraving are in ge- 

 neral less carefully executed, and the objects 

 represented are of a more miscellaneous description. 

 Serpents, lizards, shells, and frogs, are occasionally 

 introduced, and one of the last plates is occupied by 



