56 Dini'XT iNJURir.s from moths. 



open attack upon the vegetable kingdom, but tliero 

 are many others which cany on their work of destruc- 

 tion in conceahnent ; amoncr which may be numbered 

 the larva of the Bomhi/x cosxicf:, which insimiates 

 itself into the heart of the willow and sallow, and 

 feeds upon the wood, which it frequently devours 

 so effectually, that large trees are often blown down 

 in consequence of being quite hollow at heart. 



There are other animals of a more insignificant 

 nature, which are enemies to the comforts of man. 

 Reaumur tells us of a little moth, whose larva feeds 

 upon chocolate, and naturally concludes that this 

 could not have been its original food. Leuwenhoek 

 detected a moth which preyed upon two spices, the 

 mace and the nutmeg. 



Even the clothes which we wear, the blankets 

 which cover us at night, and the furs which decorate 

 and add comfort to the fair sex, are not free from 

 these pests. Notwithstanding tiic utmost care of the 

 housewife in preserving every thing made of vvoul 

 from the attacks of moths, it too often proves abortive ; 

 for these depredators insinuate themselves no one 

 knows how, and they are too frequently left unnoticed 

 till they have comj)leted their work of destruction. 

 Linnseus describes five species of these, — the Tinea 

 vestinella, tupetzella, pelUonella, sarcitella, and mclhi- 

 nella. Of the first of these we have no particular 

 history, only that it destroys clothes during summer ; 

 but of the others, Reaumur has given a very com- 



