DOG'S BANE. 155 



phial ; but neglecting to add some leaves of the Herbe a-la- 

 puce, they had by the next morning lost their splendid coat, 

 and merely resembled the common red lady-fly which we 

 have in England. I then caught a few more, and having 

 supplied them well with the leaves of that plant, they re- 

 tained their gold tinge equally as well as in the open air. 

 In a few days they had reduced the leaves to mere skeletons, 

 but as long as there remained a morsel of the stalks or fibres 

 to feed upon, their beautiful appearance continued. I kept 

 them up wards of a month in this manner; giving them 

 occasionally fresh leaves of the plant, and admitting the 

 air through some holes that I pricked in the paper with 

 which I had covered the mouth of the phial. They would 

 feed upon no other plant than the Herbe a-la-pucc, from 

 which alone they derived their beauty. I afterwards gave 

 them their liberty, and they flew away apparently little 

 the worse for their confinement *." 



The Tutsan-leaved, the St. John's-wort-leaved, and the 

 Spear-leaved kinds will bear the open air, if not exposed 

 to too much wet ; which, as they are very succulent, would 

 rot them. They may be increased by parting the roots, 

 which should be done in March. 



Hemp DogVbane, a native of North America, is used 

 by the Indians for various purposes : they prepare the 

 stalks as we do hemp, and make twine, fishing-nets and 

 lines, bags, and linen of them. According to Kalm, this is 

 the species which the Canadians call Herbe d-la-puce. 



In Mrs. Charlotte Smith's Conversations are some lines 

 upon the fate of a poor fly, lured to its prison by the de- 

 ceitful sweetness of the Apocynum. 



* Lambert's Travels through Canada, &c. vol. i. p. 435. 



