CF INSEtTS IN GENERAL, 3 it 



cantliarldes has been made fubfervient, will alone vindi- 

 cate the utility of thofe refearches which have besn made 

 concerning this part of the animal kingdom. There are 

 Oiher ufcs to which infects have been applied, and that 

 from the mod remote antiquity, which appear of a ftill 

 more fmgular nature. Before the time of TheophraJluS 

 and of Pliny, certain kinds of them were employed in 

 tipening the figs throughout the iflanJs of the Archi- 

 pelago * ; and it appears that the fame practice ftill fub- 

 fifts among the prefent inhabitants of thefe illinclsf. 

 There are two kinds of figs cultivated around the Medi" 

 terrancan ; the wild, and the domeftic. The former 

 produces fruit feveral times in the year ; and In it are 

 produced certain worms, which are afterwards transform- 

 ed into fmall flies. It is by the affiftance of thefe little 

 animals that the domeftic fig Is brought to maturity, 

 ■which would otherwife drop fi-om the tree in an unripe 

 Itate. During the months of June and July, the peafants 

 of thefe delightful climes are bufily employed collefting 

 fuch of the wild figs as abound moft with thefe infefts, 

 and In placing them near the cultivated fig, that they 

 may co-operate with the climate in bringing It to ma- 

 turity. Similar purpofes might probably be ferved by a 

 judicious application of Infe£ls to fruit In more northerly 

 climates, were we acquainted with the proper fpecies. 

 Thofe prunf s, pears, and apples which are firll ripe, are 

 commonly found penetrated by worms. 



But there are other Inducements to the ftudy of in- 

 fects, of a nature totally different from thofe already 

 mentioned ; Inducements, founded not on any hope of 

 advantage to be derived from thefe animals, but of al- 

 leviating 



• Vide Plinii Hift. Nat. \ Voyages de M. de Toumcfotto, 



