WORMS. 



10 the gallinaceous birds, of which a curious account has 

 •Tieen given by Mr. Weinfenthal, in the Medical and Phyfical 

 Journal. The inconvenience produced by thefe creatures 

 is at firft but flight : however, it gradually becomes more 

 and more oppreffive, until it ultimately deftroys the birds. 

 Very few indeed recover; they languifh, grow difpirited, 

 droop, and die. It is found, on difleftion, that thefe fymp- 

 toms are occafioned by worms in the trachea. The writer 

 has feen the whole of it completely filled with thefe worms, 

 and has been aftonifhed at the animal's being capable of 

 refpiration at all under fuch circumftances. 



They are of a reddiiTi colour, and at firft view refemble 

 the human lumbricus; but when examined are materially 

 different. When expofed to the microfcope, they are found 

 to have an orifice or mouth at one end, formed for fuftion ; 

 the other end, as far as it can be afcertained, is imperforated. 

 The inteftinal tube is much convoluted, like that of the 

 lumbricus. 



It does not appear that any effeftual remedy has been 

 yet difcovered for removing thefe moft deftruftive animals. 

 They have been drawn out of the trachea by means of a 

 feather, ftripped from near its end, which is paffed into the 

 larynx and twilled round, till it engages one or two of the 

 worms, which are extrafted, but without any relief to the 

 animal, after the operation has been performed. 



Worm, in Timber, a difeafe in growing fir, and perhaps 

 other timber-trees, produced by a worm. For which it is 

 fuppofcd by Mr, Nicol, in his " Praftical Planter," that 

 there can be no remedy except in the draining and improve- 

 ment of the foil. Indeed, this difeafe is not known on foils 

 congenial to the nature of the plant ; nor does it ever appear 

 until the tree becomes fickly, by its roots having touched a 

 cankering bottom. 



It has been fuppofed this worm is the fame with that 

 which is found in deal, and fome other forts of wood. 



Worms, Aquatic. See Water-'SMoRUS infra- 



Worm, Afcaris, in the Linnxan Syjlem, a genus of the 

 order of inlcjlina, and clafs of vermes ; the charafters of 

 which arc, that the body is round and filiform, and at- 

 tenuated towards both ends. There are two fpecies. See 



ASCARIDES. 



Worm, Bee. See Generation of Bees. 



Worm, Butterfly. See Aurelia, and Caterpillar. 



Worm, Canker. See Scarab^US. 



Worm, Chur. See Gryllus. 



Worm, Cochineal. See Cocbus. 



Worm, Connough, or Connaught, in Natural Hiftoiy, a 

 name given by the common people of Ireland to a kind of 

 caterpillar found in many parts of that kingdom ; and, from 

 its ugly afpeft, reputed to be poifonous. 



It is faid to be the only poifonous creature of that king- 

 dom, and many mifchievous effefts are attributed to its 

 iling, and to its poifonous quality, when eaten by cattle. 

 As to the firft of thefe opinions, it is evidently erroneous ; 

 the creature having no power to fting af all. The other is 

 not fo eafily proved falfe, but is much to be fufpefted. 

 The reafons on which it is founded are thefe : the cattle in 

 Ireland are fubjeft to a very terrible difeafe, which is moft 

 frequent in autumn ; about the time when thefe animals are 

 in the greateil plenty. 



It is moft frequent alfo among thofe cattle which feed in 

 low and marlhy grounds, where this creature lives and feeds ; 

 cows and hogs, which feed in thefe places, are the only 

 creatures fubjeft to the diftemper, and this is imputed to 

 the cow's eating by large mouthfuls, becaufe (he chews the 

 cud a fccond time; and the hogs feeding fo foul and greedily, 

 as to cat things which other creatures refufe. Finally, the 



great caufe of affigning this difeafe to this creature is, that 

 the worm only appears in great numbers about once in 

 feven years ; and in thefe, and thefe years only it is, that the 

 diftemper among the cattle is common. 



The fymptoms by which this difeafe is diftinguifhed from 

 all others are, great fwelling of the head, and a falling 

 down of the anus ; the gut often hanging out to the length 

 of fix or feven inches. The common cure among the more 

 intelligent people is' a ftrong decoftion of the plant called 

 bear's-foot, or great black hellebore, with fome rue and 

 garlic given with butter and beer ; this is found to have 

 great fuccefs with the cows. The hogs are cured only by 

 mixing reddle, or the common red ochre powdered, with 

 butter-milk, and making them eat a large quantity of it. 



The Irifh peafants have recourfe to many idle remedies ; 

 but thefe are found often of real fervice. The caterpillar, 

 fuppofed to occafion this difeafe, feeds on the common 

 ragwort, and is larger than moft other creatures of this 

 kind, being of the length and thicknefs of a man's finger ; 

 it is marked with two large fpots behind the head, which 

 are fuppofed by the vulgar to be the eyes, but are only 

 round variegations, of the nature of thofe common on other 

 caterpillars ; and what they take to be a fting in the tail, 

 is no other than a horn in that part, which is not peculiar 

 to this caterpillar, but found on many others. That the 

 common people are deceived in regard to the external parts 

 of this creature is evident ; but experiments are required 

 yet to prove whether or not they are fo, in regard to its 

 poifonous quality. 



One trial is remarked by Mr. Molyneux to have been 

 made on a dog, who eating the (kin of only one of the 

 creatures was found dead about three days after ; another 

 dog, which drank the juices expreffed from that fl<in, 

 received no hurt. The infeft is defcribed in Lifter's edi- 

 tion, under the name of the elephant caterpillar. Phil. 

 Tranf. N" l68. p. 880. 



Worm, Earth, lumbricus, a genus of the order oiintejlina, 

 including two fpecies. See Y^A.^in-Worm and Lumbricus. 



Worm, Flower-root. See Flower. 



Worm, Fly, in Natural Hiftory, the worm or maggot 

 produced of the egg of a fly, and afterwards to be tranf- 

 formed into one. 



Thefe worms are to the fly, what the caterpillar is to the 

 butterfly it produces. The cuftom of the world has appro- 

 priated the term caterpillar to that one fpecies of the flying 

 infefts' firft ftate ; but we have unfortunately no term of 

 diftinftion yet eftabliflied for any of the firft ftate of any of 

 the other flying infefts, the creature produced by the egg 

 of the fly fcarce being indeterminately called worm. Till 

 more expreflive names (hall be invented for thefe, it may not 

 be improper to diftinguifh thofe of the different clafTes by 

 the additional name of the infed: they are to be changed 

 into, and to call that which is to become a beetle, the fcarab- 

 worm; that which is to be hereafter a fly, the Jly-worm ; 

 and fo of the reft. 



Thofe which are to be hereafter winged creatures of the 

 fly-clafs are extremely different one from another in form 

 and figure, and may very properly be arranged into feveral 

 clafles. 



The moft remarkable and ftriking differences between the 

 clafFes of thofe creatures, are thofe of the form and fliape 

 of their heads. Many of tliem have heads which it is not 

 eafy to diftinguifh to be fuch, as they carry no one mark of 

 the head of an animal vifibly about them. There are many 

 whofe heads are variable at the pleafure of the creature, and 

 which at times are feen to be more or lefs long, more or lefs 

 thick, more or lefs flat, more or lefs fliortened at pleafure 

 4 T 2 by 



