INSECTS. - 107 



unlike, in forme and quantite, to the samin mussillis that 

 hes the purpurc ; and howbeit they have na thing thairof, 

 Ihay ar yit richt dilicius to the mouth ; utheris ar lano- and 

 greter, calUt hors mussillis, and are gotten in sindry reveris, 

 specialie in De and Done ; and in thir mussillis ar generit 

 the perlis. Thir miissulis airlie in the morning, quhen the 

 lift is cleir and temperat, opnis thair mouthis a litill abonc 

 the waiter, and maist gredelie sicellts the dexc of the heein ; 

 and, aftir the mcsurc arid quanlitc of ihe dnc that they swellie, 

 thay consavc and hredis the perle. Thir mussillis ar sa doyn 

 gleg of twiche and hering, that howbeit the voce be never 

 so small that is maid on the bra beside thaim, or the stain 

 be never sa small that is cassin in the watter, thay douk 

 haistilie at ains, and gangis to the ground, knawing weill 

 in quhat estimation and price the frute of thair wambe is 

 to al peple."* 



We shall now devote the remainder of our space to a few 

 brief notices of the insects of India. It has been observed 

 that real insect climates, or those in which certain groups 

 or species appear rather than others, may be regarded as 

 by no means certainly regulated by any isothermal lines. 

 Humboldt remarked, in reference to the simulia and culiccs 

 of South America, that their geographical position did not 

 appear to depend solely on the heat of the climate, the ex- 

 cess of humidity, or the thickness of the forests, — but on 

 local and unappreciable circumstances. t Under certain 

 limitations, however, it may be safely admitted that tempera- 

 ture is extremely influential on the distribution of insect 

 life. An increase of caloric seldom fails to produce a cor- 

 responding increase in the number and variety of entomo- 

 logical forms ; jnd if, reversing the journey from " Indus 

 to the Pole," we travel from the hvperborean regions towards 

 the sunny south, we shall find that the tinj^ multitudes ac- 

 cumulate in the warmer portions of the temperate zone till 

 they swarm between the tropics. J A similar relation ob- 

 tains between the base and the summit of mountains. 

 Such species as inhabit the plains of northena countries are 



* Tail's Reprint, Edin. 182], p. 44. 

 t Personal Narrative, vol v. p. S8. 

 t Introduction to Entomology, by Kirby and Spence, rol. It. p. 484; 



