Microscopical Essays, 217 



- The worm of the rhinoceros beetle, like other infe&s in the 

 larva ftate, changes it's fkin ; in order to effect which, it dif- 

 charges all it's excrement, and forms a convenient hole in the 

 earth, in which it may perform the wonderful operation ; for it 

 does not, like the ferpent, call orf merely an external covering, 

 but the throat, a part of the ftomach, and the inward furface of 

 the great gut, change at the fame time their fkin : as if it were to 

 increafe the wonder, and to call forth our attention to thefe 

 reprefentative changes, fome hundreds of pulmonary pipes caft 

 alfo each it's delicate (kin, a tranfparent membrane is taken from 

 the eyes, and the fkull remains fixed to the exuvia. 



After the operation, the head and teeth are white and tender, 

 though at other times as hard as a bone ; fo that the larva, when 

 provoked, will attempt to gnaw iron. For an accurate ana- 

 tomical defcription of this worm, I mull refer the reader to M.. 

 Swammerdam ; he will find it, like the reft of this author's 

 works, well worthy of his attentive perufal. To diffecT: it, he 

 firfl killed it in fpirits of wine, or furTocated it in rain water rather 

 more than lukewarm, not taking it out from thence for fome 

 hours. This preparation prevents an improper contraction of 

 the mufcular fibres. 



When the time approaches for the worm to take upon it the 

 pupa form, it generally penetrates deeper into the ground,* or 

 thofe places where it inhabits, to find a fituation that it can more 

 eafily fuit to it's fubfequent procefs. Having found a proper 



D d place. 



* The larva of tliofe beetles which live under ground are in general heavy, idle, 

 and voracious ; en the contrary, the larva which inhabit the waters are exceedingly 

 a&ive. 



