BOTANIC GARDEN. 39 



was also rendered more brilliant by iriitation. I 

 amused myself one day by observing the springintr 

 powei-s of this insect, which have not, as it appears 

 to me, been properly described.* The elater, 

 when placed on its back and. preparing to spring, 

 moved its head and thorax backwards, so that the 

 pectoral spine was drawn out, and rested on the 

 edge of its sheath. The same backward, move- 

 ment being continued, the spine, by the full action 

 of the muscles, was bent like a spring ; and. tlio 

 insect at this moment rested on the extremity of its 

 head, and wing-cases. The effort being suddenly 

 relaxed, the head and thorax flew up, and. in con- 

 sequence, the base of the wing-cases struck the 

 supporting surface with such force, that the insect 

 by the reaction was jerked upwards to the height 

 of one or two inches. The projecting points of 

 the thorax, and the sheath of the spine, served, to 

 steady the whole body dui-ing the spring. In the 

 descriptions which I have read, sufficient stress 

 does not appear to have been laid on the elasticity 

 of the spine : so sudden a spring could not be the 

 result of simple muscular contraction, without the 

 aid of some mechanical contrivance. 



On several occasions I enjoyed some short but 

 most pleasant excursions in the neighbouring coun- 

 try. One day I went to the Botanic Garden, where 

 many plants, well knowm for their great utility, 

 might be seen gi'owing. The leaves of the cam- 

 phor, pepper, cinnamon, and clove trees were de- 

 lightfully aromatic ; and the bread-fruit, the jaca, 

 and the mango, vied with each other in the mag- 

 nificence of their foliage. The landscape in the 

 neighbourhood of Bahia almost takes its character 

 from the two latter trees. Befox-e seeing them, I 

 * Kirby's Entomology, vol. ii., p. 317. 



