282 NATURAL HISTORY 



pected manner, and have a wonderful power of maintaining 

 their existence till they fall into a nidus proper for their 

 support and increase, I cannot but suspect still that these 

 Cocci came to me originally from Andalusia. Yet, all the 

 while, candour obliges me to confess that Mr. Lightfoot has 

 written me word, that he once, and but once, saw these 

 insects on a vine at Weymouth in Dorsetshire ; which, it is 

 here to be observed, is a seaport town to which the Coccus 

 might be conveyed by shipping. 



As many of my readers may possibly never have heard 

 of this strange and unusual insect, I shall here transcribe a 

 passage from a natural history of Gibraltar, written by the 

 Eeverend John White, late vicar of Blackburn in Lan- 

 cashire, but not yet published : 



" In the year 1770 a vine which grew on the east side of 

 my house, and which had produced the finest crops of 

 grapes for years past, was suddenly overspread on all the 

 woody branches with large lumps of a white fibrous sub- 

 stance resembling spiders' webs, or rather raw cotton. It 

 was of a very clammy quality, sticking fast to every thing 

 that touched it, and capable of being spun into long 

 threads. At first I suspected it to be the product of 

 spiders, but could find none. Nothing was to be seen 

 connected with it but many brown oval husky shells, 

 which by no means looked like insects, but rather resembled 

 bits of the dry bark of the vine. The tree had a plentiful 

 crop of grapes set, when this pest appeared upon it ; but 

 the fruit was manifestly injured by this foul incumbrance. 

 It remained all the summer, still increasing, and loaded the 

 woody and bearing branches to a vast degree. I often 

 pulled off great quantities by handfuls ; but it was so slimy 

 and tenacious that it could by no means be cleared. The 

 grapes never filled to their natural perfection, but turned 

 watery and vapid. Upon perusing the works afterwards 

 of M. de Reaumur, I found this matter perfectly described 

 and accounted for. Those husky shells, which I had ob- 

 served, were no other than the female Coccus, from whose 

 sides this cotton-like substance exudes, and serves as a 

 covering and security for their eggs." 



