INSECTS. Ill 



precautions of this kind become aLsolutely iieces- 

 ary, when it is considered that this insect is con- 

 stantly conveyed in the clothes and baggage of 

 travellers. The flea is certainly indigenous. It 

 swarms in the most remote pine woods, and I 

 have found it on squirrels. The cock-roach may, 

 as Kalm supposes, have been imported from the 

 West Indies : It has certainly found a congenial 

 climate, because it increases greatly : Like all 

 other winged insects, it travels rapidly. As to 

 moths, I shall not undertake to pronounce on 

 their origin ; but I can furnish you with a com- 

 plete antidote against their ravages. Red cedar 

 wood will effectually answer. Russia leather is 

 tanned with this substance, and books bound with 

 it set moths at defiance. 



But I see you smile at my insect learning; and 

 if you serve this letter as you have done some of 

 its predecessors, and publish it, I shall probably 

 incur the satire of the graciosos or buffoons of 

 New-York. Aristophanes, in his attack on 

 Socrates, charged him with measuring the leap 

 of a flea, and the most virulent accusation against 

 Jefferson is the impalement of butterflies. What 

 then do I care if I experience the fate of the most 

 illustrious men of ancient and modern times. 



