277 



OBSERVATIONS concerning 



-c- 



growth, as it might be 'with a number of eggs ftudded to- 

 gether on a leaf, or round a twig, according to the nature 

 of fome flies. Again, fbould even fo fmall a vifcous mat- 

 ter confine the egg to theoutfide of the pod or hufk, againft 

 many accidents, yet what can we fuppofe will preferve the 

 maggot, juft hatched, from thofc accidents, when it lies 

 on the outfide, on the back of the pod, or huflc? Befides, 

 I muft think I have difcovercd an egg as well as a maggot 

 under the fkin of the pea, without any vifible lead to it, 

 which muft be a convi6:ion it is not a maggot 'till it is 

 hatched in the pea; therefore it feems rcafooable that the 



parent of that bug, perforates the pod, and then into the 

 pea, in its tender and foft ftate. 



I wifh thenfuch a fuggeflion may not have arifen from 

 the callous fpeck that may be obferved, with which nature 

 clofes up the wound made in the pod, by the parent of that 

 bug. But how is this bufinefs of the worms eating through 



the hufk of the wheat, and then the grain, 'till they come 

 out in a fly, a little above the germ, at the other end of 

 the grain, to be thus conftantly performed, if the egg 

 only is laid upon the end of the huflv? For we clearly ^^e 

 thole eggs do not all hatch at once ; and after the wheat is 

 thraflied out, in which operation, to be fure, it mufl en- 

 dure a pretty rough ufagc (effed: that bufinefs as you will) 

 how can it run fo many chances, without being diflodged 



or deftroyed? I may further aflc, what fliould fupport the 



maggot from its hatching, 'till it gets through the huflc 

 into the grain? We fee in moft other fpecies of infeds, the 

 worm, maggot, or catterpillar, begins to cat as foon as It 

 can twift about, and certainly the huflc cannot be the firfl: 

 pabulum intended by nature for this maggot. Refules, 

 from the obferved tenderncfs of fuch maggots, if they are 

 not w^ell prefcrved from fcorching fun beams, wind, or rain, 

 they muft be fubjcdcd to various deftrudions, if the egg 

 can be fuppofed to be hatched but in the grain; and it could 

 not in any wife be the intention of nature, that theyfhould 

 be deftroyed by their own mifcondud; for we cllfcover, 



* 



m 



^ 



r 



