WATER-RUG. | NATURAL HISTORY. 337 
taken; for all agree that the scarabees [beetles] are procreated 
from them; rather I am of opinion that they are sprung 
from the dead bodies of horses,—for the horse is a valiant 
and warlike creature. Other sorts of them are produced 
out of the putrid corpse of the crocodiles. Wasps come 
out of the putrefaction of an old deer’s head, flying some- 
times out of the head, sometimes out of. the nostrils. Also 
Wasps are begotten of the earth and rottenness of some 
kind of fruits. The Wasps called Ichneumons are less than 
the rest; they kill spiders, and carry them into their nests, 
and daub them over with dirt, and so sitting upon them 
do procreate their own species. Of the Wasps as well wild 
as tame some have no sting; also very many of them that 
have stings lose them upon the approach of winter. They 
feed on flesh of serpents and then they sting mortally. 
They themselves are a plaister for their own stings, The 
distilled water of common Wasps applied to the belly makes 
it’ swell as if it had the dropsy, by which trick [the guile- 
less man is deceived by the designing woman]. The Wasp 
will not come near any man that is anointed with oil and 
the juice of mallows. 
Thos. Mouffet, “ Theatre of Insects,” pp. 921-6. 
Tue Wasp scorns that flower from which she hath fetched 
her wax. « Euphues’ Golden Legacy.” 
Wasps feeding on serpents make their stings more 
venomous. Lilly, “Sappho and Phaon,” iii. 3. 
V. Fly. 
W ater-rat. 
MercuanT OF VENICE, i. 3, 23. 
Warter-rar. V, Otter. Minshex’s Dictionary, s.v. 
Tue Water-rat hunteth fishes in the winter. 
Topsell, “ Four-footed Beasts,” p. 404. 
Water-rug. 
Macsety, iii. 1, 94. 
[Probably a rough-haired water-dog; perhaps a water-spaniel.] 
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