152 



(Ercftgurg cf Natural y&i 



timber, and frequently doing very serious 

 damage. It forms a rough cocoon of the 

 chips of wood, wliich it has bitten to pieces, 



fastening them together with a glutinous 

 j I secretion, and lining them with its silken 

 : web. The pupa has the head-case acute, 

 I and each of the abdominal segments is fur- 

 nished with several rows of reflexed spiny 

 hooks ; by the aid of which the pupa, shortly 

 before arriving at the perfect state, is enabled 

 to push itself through its cocoon, and to the 

 surface of the tree ; out of the aperture of 

 which the exuviae may be seen partially 

 sticking after the moth has made its escape. 



FI7PA AND OOOOON OF THE QOAT MOTH. 



The strength of their jaws is so great that 



i they will very soon destroy any common 



' chip-box in which the larva may be placed, 



i by abrading the edges, to gain its liberty. 



[ In breaking up decayed pollards, we not 



uufre<iuently find this grub in all the stages 



; of its growth ; but more generally observe 



i them without inhabitants, yet perforated 



with holes large enough to admit the linger. 



i "I suspect," says Mr. Knapp, "that these 



auger worms are the primary cause of the 



decay of the tree ; having often observed 



their perforations, and found them, both 



large and small, in the solid spur or root of 



I the tree, when the upper portion, having been 



bored, and in a state of decline, is abandoned 



by them. Those that are full fed appear to 



j form their cases in that part which has lost 



i coherency, while the younger and imper- 



! fected creatures mine their way, and obtain 



nutriment in the solid timber, thus killing 



the tree by inches ; when rain and moisture 



find lodgment, and complete the dissolution. 



One year's preparation is the period usually 



assigned to the larvae of most insects, before 



they arrive at their perfect state ; but by the 



Goat-Moth three years are required before 



it attains its winged state from the egg. 

 Consequently, for the larger portion of its 

 life it is occupied in these destructive opera- 

 tions ; and thus this creature becomes a very 

 powerful agent in reducing these Titans of 

 the vegetable world, crumbling them away 

 to their original dust : for what was decreed 

 to be the termination and punishment of 

 Man, is found in active operation throughout 

 the whole chain of Nature's works, which 

 are but dust, and unto dust return, con- 

 tinuing an endless series of production and 

 decay, of restoration and of change." 



We may mention, that one of the most 

 extraordinary works on Natural History ever 

 published is devoted to the anatomy o"f this 

 insect. It is by Lyonet. It will be suffi- 

 cient to state, in order to give some idea of 

 the careful manner in which the anatomy 

 of this caterpillar has been studied by him, 

 that the author of the " Trait Anatomique " 

 discovered not fewer than 4001 muscles in 

 its body ; 228 being attached to the head, 

 1647 to the body, and 2186 to the intestines, 

 whereas in the human body only r>29 have 

 been discovered ; so that this caterpillar pos- 

 sesses nearly eight times as many muscles 

 as are contained in the human frame 1 It 

 has an offensive smell, from which it derives 

 its popular English name. 



CORYPH.ENA. A genus of Acanthop- 



terygious fishes, family Scoinbrid(e ; some- 

 times called Dolphins, but not to be con- 

 founded with the Dolphin proper, which 

 belongs to the Cetacea. The principal cha- 

 racters by which they are distinguished are 

 as follows: Body elongated, compressed, 

 covered with small scales ; dorsal fin extend- 

 ing nearly the whole length of the back ; the 

 tail more or less forked, and the pectoral 

 fin usually arched above and pointed. They 

 have the head much elevated, and the palate 

 and both jaws furnished with teeth. These 

 fishes are very rapid in their motions, gene- 

 rally of large size, and they prey upon the 

 flying-fish. The greater part inhabit the 

 Mediterranean. [See DOLPHIN.] 



COTTIDJE. A family of Acanthoptery- 

 gious fishes, with hard or mailed cheeks; 

 the sub-orbitals being united to the preoper- 

 culum, and so expanded as to cover a large 

 part on the whole of the cheeks. They have 

 many characters in common with the Per- 

 cidce; in short, a family likeness prevails 

 among the fish possessing this check-mail, 

 notwithstanding the various forms of the 

 head that result from its greater or less de- 

 velopment. In one group of genera, the head 

 has the form of a cube ; in another it is 

 round ; in a third it is compressed ; and a 

 fourth group is composed of fish of hideous 

 aspect, with a monstrous head and vertical 

 eyes. The only forms among the Cottidce 

 that have anything like a general distribu- 

 tion are the larger genera of Trigla, Coitus, 

 Aspidophvnis, Scorpcena, Sebastes, and Gas- 

 terosteus, containing the majority of the 

 whole species. The range of individual spe- 

 cies is more remarkable in this family than 

 in the more extensive one of Percidce; as 

 is evident when we consider the number of 

 species which cross the Atlantic ; and in this 



