jefting fnout, hanging five or fix inches below the 
lower jaw; and the upper part confifts of a loofe 
wrinkled fl<in, v/hich the animal, when enraged, 
can inflate, fo as to give the nofe an arched appear- 
ance. The eyes are large and fi.ill ; and the whif- 
kers are long and thick. The nofe of the female 
is blunt, and tuberous at the top; and this, as well 
as the inferiority of her fize, fufficiently diftin- 
guifhes her from the male. 
Thefe animals, which divide their time equally 
between the land and the water, continue at fea all 
the fummer, and come on fhore at the commiCnce- 
ment of the winter, where they abide the whole 
of that feafon. During this interval they engen- 
der and bring forth their young, of which they 
have generally two at a birth; and they fuckle 
them with their milk till they have acquired the 
fize of full-grown feals. 
While the Sea-Lions continue on fnore, they 
feed on fuch grafs and verdure as grows near the 
banks of frefii-water ftreams, and generally repofe 
in herds on the moft expofed fituations in their 
vicinity. As they feem to be of a lethargic dilpo- 
fition, and not eafily avv^aked, each herd places a 
few of it's males at fome difirance, by way of centi- 
fiels, who never fail to alarm their companions when 
any danger threatens : tlie noife made by them on 
fuch occafions is various; fometimes refembling 
the grunting of a hog; and, at others, the fnorting 
of a horie. The males have frequent and moft 
furious combats with each other; which generally 
originate from jealoufy, or a monopoly of the other 
fex. An old Sea-Lion fometimes has, as it were, 
a feraglio of females, which no other of thefe ani- 
mals dares approach ; but this envied pre-eminence 
is never acquired without many bloody contefts, 
of which vifible marks frequently remain to the 
end of their lives. 
Commodore Anfon's failors killed many of 
thefe animals for food ; but particularly for their 
hearts and tongues, which they efteemed exceed- 
ingly delicious, and even preferable to thofe of 
bullocks. They were difpatched with eafe; for 
they were incapable either of retreat or refiftance, 
their motion being extremely unwieldy; and the 
blubber, rolling in waves over their bodies, pre- 
vented them from ufing expedition. However, 
while one of the feamen was employed in flcinning 
a young one of this fpecies, the female from whom 
he had taken it made towards him unperceived, 
and wounded him fo defperately with her teeth, 
that he died in a few days after. 
LION PUCERON. An appellation given 
by Reaumur to a genus of worms, which proves 
as deftruftive to pucerons as the Formica Leo 
does to ants. Though the Lion Pucerons be all 
hexapodes, they are of different origin ; fome be- 
ing produced from the eggs of a four- winged fly, 
and others from thofe of a beetle. As the Formica 
Leo has two horns, the extremities of which fupply 
the place of a mouth; fo the Lion Puceron has the 
f me appendages: but, as the former of thefe in- 
fers has only a retrograde motion, and is obliged 
to form fnares for it's prey, not being able to hunt 
for it; this creature runs very nimbly in the com- 
mon way of nature, and feizes it's prey without 
having recourfe to ftratagern. 
The body of the Lion Puceron is long and flat; 
the breaft is the thickeft and broadeft part of it, 
and from this it gradually tapers off to a point at 
the tail. It has two legs affixed to the breaft, and 
four others to the anterior rings of the body^ and. 
when it moves, the poftcrior end of the body fup- 
plies the place of a feventh leg; for it always bends 
this part downwards, and draws it along' die fur- 
face as it v/alks. The back of this creature is 
every where rough; and full of wrinkles, which 
appear as if every ring was compofed of a number 
of fmall annulations. 
Such is the general defcription of this infecfl, 
thefe charafters fuiting the various fpecies : how- 
ever, there are ocliers, by which the whole clafs 
may be divided into three principal kinds. 
Thefe animals are more deftrudive to pu- 
cerons than the worms which feed on them. A 
fmall puceron is devoured by them in an inftant; 
and the very largefc does not occupy the fpace of 
half a minute. When the Lion Puceron is firft 
produced from the egg, it is a veiy minute crea- 
ture; neverthelefs, it immediately begins to feed: 
it is likewife fo extremely ravenous, that it does not 
even fpare thofe of it's own fpecies; but as thofe 
pucerons among which it lives are more nume- 
rous, as well as more eafily caught, it eafily eludes 
the rapacity of it's kind when other food is fupplied 
in proper quantities. 
It may naturally be fuppofed, that a creature' 
which feeds fo voracioufly, arrives very foon at it's 
full growth: and this is really the cafe with refpeft 
to the Lion Puceron ; for in five or fix days after 
it is hatched, the infe6l is ready for it's final tranf- 
formation, and acquires it's perfect form. In or- 
der to efi^e(5l this, it leaves the place where it had 
hitherto fed; and fecking out the fold of a leaf, 
or fome other fjch convenient receptacle, it fpins 
a web of very fine filk, which every way furrounda 
it's body; and under this cover it pafifes through 
it's nymph or chryfalis ftate. The filk of this web 
is not only very ftrong, but the threads are fo 
clofely laid together, that it is much more fubRan- 
tial than that fpun by any of the caterpillar kind.- 
It is of a roundifh figure, and fomewhat fmaller 
than a pea : this convexity of figure arifes from the 
fhape of the infeft's body, which is always rolled 
up; and the filky fubftance is produced from au 
orifice at it's extremity. 
The creature continues enclofed in this web 
about three weeks, if it enter at the beginning of 
fummer; but if towards autumn, it remains in it 
all the following winter; and is in fpring obferved 
to come forth in the fhape of a beautiful fly, of a 
remarkable large fize in proportion to it's original 
fl:ate. It is very long-bodied ; and bears a ftrong 
refemblance to the libella or dragon-fly, except 
that it's wings are larger in proportion to it's body : 
thefe are of the moft delicate ftrufture imaginable, 
and infinitely fuperior to the fineft gauze. Wheri 
the creature is at reft, they are placed in an angle 
over the body, and form a fort of canopy or tent 
for it's proteftion. The body and breaft are 
wholly green, of the moft beautiful tinge; and the 
eyes, v/hich are large and prominent, poflefs the 
brilliancy and colour of polifhed gold. 
The eggs of thefe infefts, which are commonly 
feen on the leaves, and pedicles of the leaves, of 
the plum, and fome other trees, appear like a 
number of long and flender filaments, extending 
about an inch in length, and about a line in 
breadth: ten or twelve of thefe are ufually placed 
near each other, and a vaft number of clufters are 
generally found on the fame tree. The extremity 
of each of thefe filaments is terminated by a fort 
of prominence or tubercle of the ftiape of an egg. 
Thefe eggs have frequently been fuppofed of ve- 
getable 
