CANTHARIS VESICATORIA. 



It is tolerably clear, therefore, that neither of these ancient 

 writers were acquainted with Cantharis vesicatoria. The 

 characters also assigned to the ancient blistering insect 

 agree precisely with those of two species of Mylabris. Bur- 

 meister suggests, therefore, that Mylabris fusselini^ a na- 

 tive of the South of Europe, was the species used by the 

 ancients. Mylabris Cichorii is employed as a blistering 

 beetle at the present day in China, and some parts of Hin- 

 dostan, and may, perhaps, have been used by the Greeks 

 and Romans. 



CANTHARIS VESICATORIA, the blister beetle, from which 

 cantharidin is procured, is a coleopterous insect. It is ob- 

 long, nearly parallel for two thirds of its length, and then ta- 

 pering to the extremity. It is about two thirds of an inch 

 long, and a quarter of an inch broad ; the elytra or wing- 

 covers are green, shining, and tinted with a golden hue ; 

 the wing-sheaths are marked with three longitudinal, raised 

 stripes ; the wings are brown, membranous, and transparent. 

 The body is terminated with two small, callous, sharp spines ; 

 the head, which is gibbous, bears two black, jointed, thread- 

 like feelers, and along the head and the chest there is a longi- 

 tudinal furrow. It is of some importance to know the real 

 character of the blister beetle, as the specimens of it are fre- 

 quently mixed with the Melolentha, Scarabcei, Cetonice, and 

 other beetles. It is a curious fact, that the circulating, respi- 

 ratory, and nervous system of this insect, in conjunction with 

 the generative organs, has a singular analogy with those of 

 the vertebrated animals. This beetle is found in every part 

 of Europe where the vine flourishes naturally in the open air, 

 that is, from the equator to the fifty-second degree of north 

 latitude ; it has also been seen in the South of England, and 

 is abundant in the southern provinces of Russia. It feeds 

 upon the ash. the privet, the lilac, the honeysuckle, the rose, 

 willow, poplar, and elm. When it is very abundant, an odor 

 resembling that of the mouse is exhaled ; and it is probable 

 that the cause of the ardor urince and ophthalmia, experienced 

 by persons who sit under a tree containing many of these in- 

 sects during the time of their copulation, is to be attributed 

 to the cantharidin being carried off with the volatile oil 

 which causes this odor. Ophthalmia is severely felt by those 

 who prepare cantharidin, unless the eyes be protected by 

 gauze shades. 



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