CONTENTS. XIU 



fecundity. Their changes of colour wheu first disclosed 

 from the chrysalis. Their diffusion. The blue-bottle fly. 

 Cruelty to insects reproved. Diminutive size of some of 

 the Diptera. Their humming noticed by Wordsworth. 

 Their aerial dances. Their number in summer. Some 

 obser^'ed in winter. Clouds of flies in Januaiy, 1836. 

 Multitudes on grass. The fly used as an object of com- 

 parison by the poets. Mentioned in the Classics. An- 

 noyance it occasions. Itahan mode of excluding the 

 house-fly. Common gnat {Culex pipiens) supposed to be 

 identical with the mosquito. The mosquito found in all 

 parts of the world. Torment occasioned by it. " The 

 Brize" {(Estrus bovis). Sufferings endured from it by 

 cattle. Noticed by Virgil. " Bots." " Begnawn ■with 

 the bots." Disputed identity of the Oistros of the an- 

 cients with the ffisti'us of Linnaeus. " Flies at St. Bartho- 

 lomew-tide, bhnd though they have their eyes ;" mean- 

 ing of the passage. Examples of the frequent mention of 

 the flea by Shakspeare .... page 175 



LETTER XL 



ARACHNOIDA. 



Spiders not classed with insects. Their peculiar structure. 

 Variety of modes in which they capture their prey. " The 

 labouring spider." " Bottled spider." Fragility of the 

 thread. Its complicated structure. Used as a styptic and 

 a soporific. Web of the house and garden spiders. — 

 Shakspeare aware of the different habits of some tribes. 

 " Long-legged spinners." Poison possessed by spiders. 

 Affection of the female spider for her young. The gos- 

 samer mentioned by Spencer and Thomson erroneously. 



