46 DIRECT INJURIES FROM MOTHS. 



state in his stomach. It is very common for the 

 larvae of beetles, &c. to be generated in the stomach, 

 and voided alive, which can only be accounted for 

 by swallowing them in the egg state. 



Azara, a celebrated Spanish traveller, informs us, 

 that, in South America, there is a large brown moth, 

 which produces its eggs in a gelatinous substance 

 upon the skins of persons who sleep naked, where 

 they transform into the larva state ; then insinuate 

 themselves under the skin, producing swelling, inflam- 

 mation, and excessive pain. These, when noticed 

 by the native Indians, are squeezed out. They 

 generally amount to five or six individuals.* 



A very destructive moth is the Bombyx Graminis ; 

 and, although less frequently met with in this country 

 than on the Continent, is nevertheless sometimes a 

 most troublesome pest to our farmers. In the year 

 1759 and 1802, the caterpillar of this Phalaena proved 

 a dreadful scourge to many of the higher sheep 

 farms of Tweeddale, in Scotland. In certain spots, 

 the grass, for a mile square, was totally devoured by 

 itf In the year 1740, 1741, and 1742, in Sweden, 

 these larvae multiplied so prodigiously, and committed 

 such ravages, that the fields were quite eaten up by 

 them, and had the appearance of having been con- 

 sumed by fire, if 



Still farther to the north, according to the account 

 of Pallas, a moth of another species is even more 



* AZARA'S Travels, p. 217. 



f Farmers' May. iii. 487. f Di GF.KK, iL 341. 



