CENTURY VIII. 385 



ing out of the leaf, as by their feeding upon the leaf. 

 They breed in the spring chiefly, because then there 

 is both dew and leaf. And they breed commonly 

 when the east winds have much blown ; the cause 

 whereof is, the dryness of that wind ; for to all vivi- 

 fication upon putrefaction, it is requisite the matter 

 be not too moist : and therefore we see they have cob 

 webs about them, which is a sign of a slimy dryness; 

 as we see upon the ground, whereupon, by dew and 

 sun, cobwebs breed all over. We see also the green 

 caterpillar breedeth in the inward parts of roses, espe 

 cially not blown, where the dew sticketh ; but espe 

 cially caterpillars, both the greatest, and the most, 

 breed upon cabbages, which have a fat leaf, and apt 

 to putrify. The caterpillar, towards the end of sum 

 mer, waxeth volatile, and turneth to a butterfly, or 

 perhaps some other fly. There is a caterpillar that 

 hath a fur or down upon it, and seemeth to have 

 affinity with the silk- worm. 



Experiment solitary touching the files cantharides. 



729. The flies cantharides are bred of a worm or 

 caterpillar, but peculiar to certain fruit-trees ; as are 

 the fig-tree, the pine-tree, and the wild brier ; all 

 which bear sweet fruit, and fruit that hath a kind 

 of secret biting or sharpness : for the fig hath a milk 

 in it that is sweet and corrosive ; the pine-apple hath 

 a kernel that is strong and abstersive : the fruit of 

 the brier is said to make children, or those that eat 

 them, scabbed. And therefore no marvel, though 

 cantharides have such a corrosive and cauterising 



