PEA 
half the body of an antt it has a fting like that of 
the common bee; and three fpots placed in a tri- 
angle on the forehead, which are fuppofed to be 
eyes* The body is black, except that there is a 
large round whitilh or pale yellow fpot on the 
back; the upper pair of the wings are fhaded and 
fpotted; but the under pair are gauzy. 
Dr. Lifter, who firft obferved thefe Patellae, 
proceeded fo far, on comparing them with the 
common kermes, as to declare that tiiey were of 
the fame nature with that produ£lion; but his 
hiftory of their being the workmanfhip of a bee, 
to preferve her young maggots in, is by no means 
compatible with the true hiftory of the kermes, 
that being an infeft of a very peculiar kind. In- 
deed, this author has been juftly blamed for a too 
great precipitancy in his decifions; and perhaps 
in no inftance has he more merited this ccnfure 
than the prefent. 
It is very pofllble that thefe Patella may be the 
fame fort of animals with the kermes; but then 
they produce their young within this fhell or 
hulk, which is no other than thefkin of the parent 
animal's body: but as there are many flies whofe 
■worms or maggots are bred in the bodies of other 
animals, it is probable that this little bee, now 
under confideration, may delight to lay it's egg in 
the body of the proper infeft here mentioned ; 
and the maggot hatched from that egg may eat up 
the original progeny, and undergoing it's own 
natural changes there, ilTue out at laft in form of 
the bee. This may have been the cafe in fome 
few which Dr. Lifter examined; and he was pro- 
bably mined by this to fuppofe it to be the natural 
change of the infeft. 
PATELLA FERA, the Wild Limpet. An 
appellation very improperly beftowed by Ronde- 
letius and Aldrovandus on the auris marina, or 
concha Veneris. 
PATTALIA. An Ariftotelian term for a ftag 
or deer of the age of two years. 
PAVO. The clafTical appellation for the pea- 
cock. 
Pavo is alfo another name for the peacock- 
fidi. 
PAUXI. An American bird defcribed by 
Nierembergj feemingly the fame with the mitu of 
the Brazilians defcribed by Marcgrave, and like- 
wife with the tepetototl of Nieremberg: the only 
difference being this ; that the Pauxi, inftead of a 
creft, has a flefhy protuberance at the bafe of it's 
bill ; whereas the other has a hard pear-fhaped 
fubftance, of a beautiful pale blue colour. 
PEACH GALL-INSECT. A linall Gall- 
Infeft abounding on this tree, of an oblong figure, 
flat on the belly and prominent on the back, 
pointed, and not unaptly refembling a boat in mi- 
niature with it's bottom turned upwards. It's 
colour is ufually a faint brown ; fometimes, how- 
ever, it approaches to a cofixe-colour, fometimes 
to a briglit chefnut, but more frequently it has a 
reddifti tinge. 
This infect foon dies after it has laid it's eggs ; 
and it's dried body makes an excellent covering 
and defence for them: and, what is very remark- 
able, as the infeft is now immoveable, and cannot 
draw itfelf over it's eggs, they are not protruded 
behind it's body, but, as they are laid, are drawn 
under it's belly, and carefully arranged there. 
In the fpace of ten or twelve days the eggs are 
hatched; after which the young animals remain 
feveral days under the flielter of their parent's 
PEA 
fKcletOrt. About the beginning of June they 
emancipate themfelves; and may then be found 
running very nimbly over the branches of the tree, 
if microfcopically examined, for as yet thev are 
too fmall to be perceived by the naked eye: the 
branches, thus covered with thefe young animals, 
are in a few days cleared again; and the infcfts 
found in the form of fmall fcales, covering the 
leaves, are now large enough to be diftinguifhed 
by the naked eye. 
Not only the Gall-Infefts of the Peach, but all 
the fpecies of this genus, after a certain period, 
become immoveably fixed to one fpot, and lofe 
every locomotive power* During the months of 
July, Auguft, September, and Oftober, their 
growth is very flow. At the beginning of No- 
vember, they are found fomewhat enlarged in 
breadth, and all of a reddifti hue. About the 
commencement of March, they begin to fwell 
with the nafcent eggs; their backs become a little 
convex; and, when viewed with a microfcope, 
they appear to be covered with fmall tubercles. 
At this ftage of their exiftence, feven or eight 
long threads may be perceived running from fe- 
veral parts of their bodies ; which adhering to the 
branch at a diftance from the creature, fix it im- 
moveably in it's place. In the beginning of 
April, it becomes much more convex ; and though 
no longer capable of motion, yet gives evident 
proofs of an animal exiftence. At this time, by 
very flow motions, it changes it's fl<:in; and it is 
not till after this transformation that it aflumes 
fo exaftly the figure of a Gall, and grows fo very 
quickly to it's full fize. Seven or eight days, at 
this ftagc of It's life, effeft fuch a change, that it 
is almoft impolTible to pronounce it the fame ani- 
mal ; but it is not till the beginning of May that 
it acquires it's full magnitude. About the mid- 
dle of that month, it is in a condition to lay; as 
the eggs are difcharged, the belly is puflied clofer 
and clofer to the back; and, when all are laid, it 
becomes the fliell already defcribed, affording that 
proteftion to the eggs which itfelf experienced in 
it's nafcent ftate. 
About the end of April the branches of the 
Peach, and fome other trees, covered with thefe 
Infefts, are much frequented by a fort of fmall 
flies, beautiful enough to demand attention : their 
heads, breafts, bodies, and legs, are all of a deep 
red colour; they have only two wings, but they 
are very large, lefs tranfparent than thofe of the 
common flies, and of a dufky white hue, fringed 
with the moft beautiful red. But what principally 
diftinguifties this from every other fpecies, is, that 
two long threads proceed from their pofteriors, 
twice the length of their wings ; and betv/een thefe 
there appears a fort of tail or piercer, about one- 
fourth part as long as one of thefe filaments : this, 
like all other inftruments of a fimilar kind, is 
thicker at the bafe than the point, and bent a lit- 
tle downwards. It is eafy, at firft fight, to con- 
ceive, that thefe are the flies which have been pro- 
duced from v/orms fed in the bodies of the Gall- 
Infefts of a former year; and that they are now 
feeking an opportunity to depofit their eggs in 
the bodies of thefe little creatures, there to be 
hatched into worms, and thence to come forth in 
the form of the parent flies. 
If thefe flies are microfcopically examined, they 
will be found introducing this feeming piercer al- 
ways at the fame place into the body of the Gall- 
In left^ 
PEACOCK. 
