I CH 
brown colour; the eyes are bright and fparkllng; 
and the ears are finall, round, and fo thinly co- 
vered with hair, as to difclofe the colour of the 
flefh. The top of the head, the neck, back, fides, 
and tail, are cloathed with pretty long ftifF hair, 
partly brown and partly dufkv; the hair on the 
throat and belly is fhorter, and brownifh, without 
any mixture ; the legs, which are fhort, are dufliy 
or black ; and there are five toes on each foot. 
One of thefe animals was lately brought over 
to Encrkand. It fometimes crept on it's belly, af- 
ter the manner of a ferpent; and, at others, it raifed 
it's head, and appeared to walk on it's legs, and 
to contraft it's body. It fometimes rcfted on it's 
hinder legs ; and, when incenfed, ere6ted it's brif- 
tles in a furprizing manner. It was fuffcred to 
run about the houfe, and was very ferviceable in 
clearing; it of rats and mice. 
Edwards mentions an Egyptian Ichneumon, 
meaiuring forty-two inches, which fell under his 
infpecStion. With regard to Hvipe and colour, it 
refembled the former, except that it had a fmall 
tuft of hair at the extremity of the tail; from which 
circumllance he feems inclined to believe that they 
were of a di'iFerent fpecies, though it is more proba- 
ble they were only V M-ieties of the fime fpecies. 
ICHNEUMON FLY. In the Linnsan fyf- 
tem, this is a genus of the hymenoptera clafs of 
infefts, comprehending no fewer than feventy- 
feven fpecies; the diftinguifhing characters of 
which are thefe: the mouth has jaws without a 
tongue; the joints of the antenna; are more than 
thirty; the abdomen is generally petiolated; and 
the fting is protruded from a cylindric bivalve 
fheath. 
Though there are many different kinds of this 
infe6l, the mofb formidable, as well as the beft 
known, is the common Ichneumon with four 
wings like the bee; a long (lender black body; 
and a three-forked tail, confifting of briftles, of 
v/hich the two exterior are black, and the central 
one is red. This fly receives ir's name from the 
little quadruped fo 'efcru^Ve to the crocodile, to 
•which it bears a ftron^ fimilitude in it's couras;e 
and rapacity. 
The inilrument with which the Ichneumon Fly 
is furniflied, though apparendy feeble and flender, 
is neverthelefs endued with great power and effi- 
cacy: there is fcarcely any fubftance which it can- 
not pierce, and it is fcldom unemployed. It is 
the weapon of defence, as well as that of attack; 
and afllfts the f -male in depofiung her eggs where- 
ever fhe thinks proper to lay them. As it is an 
appendage principally employed for the latter pur- 
pofe, the m.ale is totally unprovided with it; while 
the female ufes it with great force and dexterity, 
brandifi:!ing it when caught from fide to fide, and 
often wounding her captors. 
All the flies of this tribe are produced in a fimi- 
lar manner; and owe their birth to the deftrudtion 
of fome other infefts, within whofe bodies they 
have been depofited, and on v/hofe vitals they 
have preyed till they have arrived at maturity. 
Thei-e is no infeft whatever which the female will 
not attack in order to lodge her eggs in it's body : 
the caterpillar, the gnat, and even the fpider itfeif, 
fo formidable to others, is often made the unwilling 
fupport of this deflructive progeny. 
About the middle of June, when other infedls 
are found in great abundance, the Ichneumon is 
feen flying bufily about, feeking proper obiecfls 
whereon to depofit her race. As there are various 
I C T 
fpecies of this fly, fo they feem endued widi dif- 
ferent appetites: fome place their eggs within the 
aurelia of a nafcenc infeft; others depofit them 
within the nefi; which the wafp has curioufly con- 
trived for it's young; and, as both are produced at 
the lame time, the offspring of the Ichneumon not 
only devour the young wafps, but the whole fup- 
ply of worms which the parent had carefully pro- 
vided for their fupport. Elowever, the greater 
number of the Ichneumon tribe fettle on the back 
of the caterpillar, darting at interva s their firings 
into it's body; and at every effort they depofit an 
egs:, while the wounded animal appears but little 
fenfible of the injury it has fufiiained. In this man- 
ner they leave from fix to a dozen eggs within 
the fpongy fubfcance of the reptile's body; and 
then fly off, in order to comm.it farther depreda- 
tions. In the mean time, the caterpillar thus ir- 
reparably injured feems to feed as voracioufly as be- 
fore, without any abatement of it's ufual adivityj 
and, to appearance, is not at all affefted by the in- 
ternal enemies which are haftening it's deftruftion 
in their darkfome abode. But they loon burft from 
their egg ftate, and begin to feed on t'ne fubftance 
of their priibn : as they grow larger, they require a 
greater fupply; till at laft the animal, by whofe vi- 
tals they are nourifiied, being no longer able to 
fupport them, dies a mere flveleton. It frequently, 
however, happens, that it furvives their worm- 
ftate; and in that cafe they change into a chryfalis, 
inclofed in the caterpillar's body, till the time of 
their delivery approaches, when they burfi: their 
cells, and fly away. 
The Ichneumon Flies, though terrible to the in- 
fe£l tribes, are neverthelefs of the moft effential fer- 
vice to mankind. The millions of infefts v/hich. 
they deftroy in the courfe of a fingle fumm;er are 
beyond conception ; and, without fuch animals, the 
fruits of the earth would vegetate only to furnifh a 
banquet for the infeft race, and the nobler ranks 
of animated nature be reduced to the utmoft dif- 
trefs. 
ICHNEUMON WASP. An appellation 
given by the old writers to that fpecies of finall, 
fiender-bodied Wafp, frequently found about mud- 
walls and dry banks. It is extrem.ely different 
from the infeft properly called the Ichneumon, 
being in reality a true Wafp, mottled with black, 
and yellov/, after the manner of the common kind. 
ICHTHYOCOLLA PISCIS. A large fifli 
of the fturgeon kind, from which the drug called 
ifinglafs is made. See Isinglass Fish. 
ICTERUS. A name commonly given to the 
jaundice-bird, belonging to the turdus kind. 
Icterus, Indian Black-Headed ; the Orio- 
lus Melanocephalus of Linnfeus. This bird is 
about the fize of the thrufh; the bill is of a brown- 
ifh white or dirty flefh-colour; and the head and 
under-fide of the neck are black. The vdiole 
body, the covert-feathers of the wings, and the 
greateft part of the tail, are of a fine bright yellow 
hue; the greater quill-feathers are black, with yel- 
low edges ; and on the upper part of the ridge of 
the wings there is' a flight mixture of yellow and 
black. The tail is compofed of twelve yellow fea- 
thers of equal lengths, the tVvO middlemoft having 
each a tranfverfe black bar, about an inch broad, 
at their tips; the legs and feet are of a dull blueifli 
black colour; there are four toes on each foot; and 
the claws are black, and pretty ftrong. This cu- 
rious bird was firft figured and defcribed by Ed- 
wards; v/ho fays that it was innported from Bengal. 
^ JEAN- 
