THE BEETLE. 163 



ceptacle for her eggs, she deposits them in the 

 place, and dies soon after. The heart of the bud 

 being thus wounded, the circulation of the nutri- 

 tive juice is interrupted, and the fermentation 

 thereof, with the poison injected by the fly, burns 

 the parts adjacent, and then alters the natural 

 colour of the plant. The juice or sap, turned 

 back from its natural course, extravasates and 

 flows round the egg ; after which it swells and 

 dilates by the assistance of some bubbles of air, 

 which get admission through the pores of the 

 bark, and w r hich run in the vessels with the sap. 

 The external coat of this excrescence is dried by 

 the air, and grows into a figure which bears some 

 resemblance to the bow of an arch, or the round- 

 ness of a kernel. This little ball receives its nu- 

 triment, growth, and vegetation, as the other parts 

 of the tree, by slow degrees, and is what we call 

 the gall-nut. The worm that is hatched under 

 this spacious vault, finds in the substance of the 

 ball, which is as yet very tender, a subsistence 

 suitable to its nature ; gnaws and digests it till the 

 time comes for its transformation to a nymph, and 

 from that state of existence changes into a fly. 

 After this, the insect, perceiving itself duly pro- 

 vided with all things requisite, disengages itself 

 soon from its confinement, and takes its flight 

 into the open air. The case, however, is not 

 similar with respect to the gall-nut that grows in 

 autumn. The cold weather frequently comes on 

 before the worm is transformed into a fly, or be- 

 fore the fly can pierce through its enclosure. The 

 nut falls with the leaves, and although you may 



