AUGUST. 235 



the presence of the larva in the trees to which it resorts, 

 and which cannot be supposed to render it very inviting, 

 this caterpillar was fattened with flour by the luxurious 

 Romans, and considered by them a great delicacy. Mr. 

 Kirby, in the following passage, seems to recommend this 

 example to our notice. " No insects/' he says, " are more 

 numerous than the caterpillars of Lepidoptera ; if these 

 could be used in the stock of food in times of scarcity, it 

 might serve the double purpose of ridding us of a nuisance 

 and relieving the public pressure." Reaumur also suggests 

 this mode of diminishing caterpillars, and says, that if we 

 took to eating them, he should be of the same mind as the 

 red-breasts, and eat only the naked ones. I have elsewhere 

 mentioned the different tribes of people who make these 

 little creatures their food. 



