B O T 



B O T 



p. 66.), where he defcribes the Innx found in the cavities of 

 the face of the Hag ; and it is evident tiiat they are widely 

 different from thofe inhabiting the fame place in the flittp, 

 or indeed from any other fpecics at prefent known. He did 

 not fucceed in his attempts to breed tlie fly from thefe lavvx ; 

 and we are therefore in the da-k refpecfting this infeA : and, 

 unlefs it be the oejlnu ntifcilis of Linn.rus, which, on fevcral 

 accounts, it does not appear probable that it is, it mnft be a 

 new fpecies. 



Reaumur fecms fully to have believed the abfurd dodtrine 

 of Va!lif'.:ieri, that the parent fly entered actually into the 

 noftrils and fauces to depofit its egc;?, of which we (hall 

 have occafion to fpeak hereafter more particidurlv. 



Next to the works of Reaumur, in this line of refearch, 

 follow the writiuiTS of baron De Geer, who has followed 

 and coniirmed the difcoveries of Vallifnieri and Reaumur, 

 without adding any thing of importance to their oblerva- 

 tions. He feems alfo to entertain, without hefitation, the 

 opinion of Vallilnieri, that the ocJJnis eqm enters the reftum 

 to depofit its eggs. We find, however, that he was aware 

 that I^innaeus, under the title oc. boins, had confounded two 

 dillindt fpecies. 



He alio erroneoiidy appears to have confidcred the oe. 

 iovis aud hit!iioi-r/.ioiJii/is as one fpecies, being deceived by 

 the circumftance of their defcription, which, as to colours, 

 is very hmilar. 



Linnxus next, by the extraordinary concifencfs of his 

 ■writings, feemed to fatirize the enormous details in the na- 

 tural hillorians of the preceding age, whofe works were 

 rapidly becoming too voluminous even for perufal. On moft 

 occafions he brought what was important to be known 

 within the narrow limits of a few Latin phrafes well ex- 

 • prtffed. He marlhalled, for the firfl time, the fcattered 

 members of this extraordinary race under the common 

 family title of oejlrus. He, however, was only acquainted 

 with five fpecies, all European ; bums, tarandi, hsmorrlioi- 

 eJalis, nafalis, and uvis. His fpecific characters are very 

 appropriate; and we (hall have occafion, in enumerating the 

 fpecies at prefent known, at the coneluiion of tliis general 

 account, to give them nearly as he had done. 



Fabricius next added to this family three more fpecies ; 

 llie oe. biiccntus, oe. pecarum, oe. tronipe. Defcribing from 

 cabinets, without entering into their hiftory, has been the 

 fourcc of the greatell confufion. His oe. vitu/i is a mere va- 

 riety of the equi ; and the Linnsan bovis, which is the 

 conviTioneft fpecies, teems to be altogether omitted in his 

 enumeration. 



Gmelin next occurs ; and, collating from all quarters, 

 without any acquaintance with the animals themfclves, has 

 added three more fpecies, which he believes to be new, 

 from the works of profcffor Pallas. Thefe are indicated by 

 the names of an'.'ilop.e, fafc'iculofus, and lominis. 



The European fpecics, efpecially thofe that infeft our 

 <;attle, horfes, and (heep, in Great Britain, being the moft 

 interefting, we- (hall proceed to illultrate the moft curious 

 circumllances of their hillory, and barely mention the names 

 «f the reft, aud the animals and country they inhabit. 



Linnxus, through the whole conrfe of his life, had never 

 met with the true fly produced by the ox-bot, but had con- 

 llantly taken a very diffimilar one which infefts the horfe for it. 

 Indeed, this infsdf is truly rare. Vallifnieri had never feen 

 but one, and that was mutilated. Reaumur, with uncom- 

 mon pains, had raifed two or three to the perfedl ttate of a 

 fly, and informs us, that to effeft his purpofe more com- 

 pletely, he employed a eow-herd to colle6t for him, promi- 

 ?ing him the price of half a day's labour for each he fhould 

 bring ; but out of thirty procured by this means not one 

 Voi,. V. 



lived. The cow-keeper, no doubt, too eager for his re- 

 ward, had preffid thtm with his fingers from tlieir ficuaiionj 

 under the (Icin, before they were perfeftly ripe and full fed ; 

 in which cafe they would certainly all perifh, even though 

 within a day of this period. 



There is only one good fpecimen of this infeft that wc 

 know of in Engkuid, even at this time, which is in the c«l- 

 leflion of Mr. Thomas Allen, and was taken from the back 

 of a cort' near Hampton court. By rare chance wc took 

 another of thefe in the Alps, between Salanchc and Bonne- 

 ville, after obfcrving it to fettle on fome dung that lay in the 

 road where fome cattle had recently paded, and which, ort 

 our return through Germany, we preientcd to the venerable 

 aud very relpeclable profeflbr D. Schrebtr of Erlang, the 

 intimate friend and pupil of Linn.rus, who, we were fur- 

 prized to find, till that time had not feen it. 



Nothing is, however, more eafy than to procure thefe 

 inftcts by the fimple means we formerly ufed, end the de- 

 tail of which may not be unacceptable to the public, efpe- 

 cially to thofe who with to fee them from curioliry, or from 

 a delirc to procure them for their cabinets. During the lat- 

 ter months of the fummer, at which time thefe larvK arc 

 moll Irtquently found of a mature age, and ready to quit 

 their habitations, which is difcovcrable by the fnpefior lizc 

 of the tumor, and by the increafed diameter of the external 

 opening in the (kin ; felefting fuch an thefe, the hairs are to 

 be removed with a pair of fciffars to fome little dlftance from 

 the tumor, and a piece of leather thickly fprend with pitch, 

 through the centre of which a hole is cut, and into this is 

 inferted a fmall gauze pouch or bag ; the pitched leather i$ 

 now placed on the Ikin, to which it readily adiicrcs, and the 

 infect, when it falls from the abfcefs, is caught by the bag, 

 where, as it camiot cfcape, it remains till removed by the 

 p'erfon who looks after them. Three larvi, procured in this 

 way, produced two flies in very good condition : one fled 

 away during fome experiments that we were making with it ; 

 the other wau given to Mr. Allen, as above ftateJ, after diuw- 

 ings had been made of it for the ufe of the Liiur^an focicty. 

 We are now under the necefljty of adverting to a fmall 

 commimication fent to the Linnsan fociety by the writer of 

 this article, in the year 1796, and pubiilhed in the third 

 volume of their Tranfaflions, p. 289, as this memoir con- 

 tains fome farther ob.rervations aud difcoveries tlian thc'i 

 which had fallen within the notice of Vallifnieri and Reaimiur, 

 we (hall briefly extreft from them what is new or ufeful. 



Page 291. " The Lava of the of/lrus btv'u is vei-y unlike the 

 other larvae of this genus, fo much fo that I did not imagine, 

 till I had procured the fly from it, that it was the larva of 

 an oefirus. It neither pofftfTes the aculci, the lips, or the 

 marginal fetae, which are the pror-ii'.ent charaftcrs of the 

 larvs? of the oe. eqiii and hirmorrho'iilalis. When young, the 

 larva is fmooth, white, and tranfparent; as it enlarges, it 

 becomes browner ; and about the time it is full grown, it is 

 totally of a deep brown colour, having numerous dots on its 

 furface, difpofed in tranfverfe interrupted lines palTujg round 

 the fegments. Two dillinft and different kinds of hues are 

 feen on each fegment ; the uppermoft of them is narrower, 

 and confifts of larger dots. Underneath thefe there is a 

 broader line, and the dots fmaller. The firll are cafdy feen, 

 bv ufing tlie lens, to be real hooks bent upwards, or towards 

 the tail of the inftct ; and on examining the broader line of 

 fmall dots, with a tolerably powerful magnifier, they were 

 found alfo to be real hooks turned in an oppolite diredtion 

 to the former, that is, downwards in the abfcefs, and to- 

 wards the head of the infeft. This (jugular arrangement of 

 hooks round the body of the larva, in this inftance, ferve 

 the putpofc of legs in other larvae, enabling it to move about 

 P ia 



