234 



THE HAWTHORN. 



and the poor people employed to cut off the webs 

 at one shilling per hushel, which were burnt under 

 the inspection of the churchwardens, overseers, 

 or beadles of the parish ; and some idea may be 

 formed of their number from the fact, that at 

 the outset of this business eighty bushels were 

 collected in one day in the parish of Clapham 



BROWN-TAILED MOTH. 



alone. The mischief, however, was not confined 

 to the actual destruction of the vegetation, but 

 the most absurd alarms were raised from the 

 sudden appearance of these creatures, which by 

 some were regarded as the forerunners of the 



