THE EUG. 



43S 



The houfe bug differs from all the reft of the genus, 

 in having neither wings nor eljtra. It has two fmall 

 brown eyes, and two antennse, having each three articu- 

 lations : Underneath thefe lies the crooked trunk, its in- 

 ftrument of torture, which, when the animal is in motion, 

 lies infledled upon the breaft. Tlie parts of generation 

 are obvious in both fexes : they are often feen coupling 

 together in the a£t of procreation ; two days after which, 

 the female depofits her eggs, to the nunber of an hundred 

 and fifty. 



Cleanlinefs is the beft antidote againft thefe animals, as 

 their hoftile attacks appear the proper punifliment of its 

 negleft. Many fecret compofitions arc made ufe of to 

 deitroy them 5 but that objedl feems rather the efFe6t of 

 affiduity than of a cure. Mixtures have been made for 

 this purpofe, of foap, verdigrife, and Scotch fnufF, which 

 are faid to be effect ual. After having taken down the 

 bed three or four different times, and wafliing it with a 

 folution of corrofive fublimate, they have been banifhed* 

 The fmoke of peat, where that fuel is to be had, is the 

 moft efficacious of all applications, and uniformly de- 

 ftroys thefe troublefome animals wherever it is ap^ 

 plied. 



The field bugs have all wings, and inhabit plants as 

 various as their iliape and colour. In their larva ftate 

 they are very a£live, and differ bat little from the per- 

 fect animal, except in their wanting wings : In this ftate, 

 however, as well as that of a chryfalid, the animal is in- 

 capable of propagating its kind. After the laft transfor- 

 mation, the wings unfold ; and the impregnated female 

 lays her eggs commonly ranged one befide another, upon 

 the leaf of a plant. 



Vol. III. 3 1 • Thefe 



