A CUKE FOR THE TOOTHACHE. 2\^ 



Presently, the larval skin splits down the back, but the pupa 

 does not emerge, remaining within the larval skin until it has 

 changed into its perfect form. It has been mentioned that 

 tlie Lady-birds give out a very unpleasant odour. This is caused 

 by a yellowish liquid which issues from the joints of the limbs, 

 as has been described in connection with the Oil Beetle, on 

 page 1 54, and which has a very powerful and disagreeable scent. 

 lu some parts of the country this liquid is considered to be a 

 cure for toothache, the finger being first rubbed against the 

 legs of the Lady-bird, and then on the offending tooth. In its 

 larval state it emits a similar liquid from the tubercles upon 

 its body. 



It is rather remarkable that the popular names of Lady-bird 

 and Lady-cow are not peculiar to England. In France, for 

 example, the insect is called Bete de la Vierge, or Vache a 

 Dieu. The children, however, do not respect the insect in con- 

 sequence of its popular names, but, ou the cuntrary, when they 

 catch one, look upon it as a means of showing their ingenuity 

 in prolonging torture without destroying life. 



The next family, that of the Endomychidse, is represented 

 by one species, Lycoperdina bovistoe, which is shown on Wood- 

 cut XXIV. Fig. 2. 



In this family the antennae are tolerably long, the thorax is 

 impressed behind, and the last joint of the maxillary palpus is 

 never hatchet-shaped. In the genus Lycoperdina the thorax is 

 heart-shaped, and abruptly cut oif at the base, and there is no 

 distinct club to the antennse. The present species is an odd, 

 black, flat insect, which has been very happily compared to a 

 Blaps in miniature. It is to be found inside the well-known 

 puff-ball (^Lycoperdon bovistce), from which it derives its 

 generic name, and makes its exit by the aperture which exists at 

 the top of the fungus, and through which the spores escape like 

 clouds of smoke. It is not at all a common insect, and a vast 

 number of puff-balls may be examined without a single speci- 

 men of the Beetle being found. But, like many other rare 

 insects, when one specimen is found, plenty more are generally 

 to be seen, and though five hundred of the fungi may have been 

 examined without success, the five hundred and first may con- 

 tain enough Beetles to stock a dozen cabinets. 



