G R Y 
G U A 
G U A 
they are eaten both fresh and salted, in 
which last state they are publickly sold in the 
markets of some parts of the Levant. The 
quantity of edible substance which they af- 
ford is but small, especially in the male in- 
sects ; but the females, on account of the 
ovaries, afford a more nutritious sustenance. 
I he gryllus cnstatus is a highly beautiful 
animal ; being of a bright red, with the body 
annul ated with black ; and the legs varied 
with yellow: the upper wings tesselated with 
alternate variegations of ' dark and pale 
green ; the lower with transverse undulated 
streaks : the length of the animal from head 
to tail is about four inches, and the expanse 
of wings from tip to tip, when fully extended, 
hardly less than seven inches and a half. 
3. Greatly allied to the preceding is the 
gryllus dux ; it is of the same , size and ge- 
neral appearance, but has the body green ; 
the upper wings brown, with the front edge 
green ; and the lower wings red, with numer- 
ous black spots disposed in such a manner 
as to form transverse streaks. It is a native 
of South America and the West Indian 
islands. 
4. The gryllus viridissimus of Linnseus is 
one of the largest European species, and is 
often seen during the decline of summer in 
out own country. It is wholly of a pale 
grass-green, with a slight blueish cast on the 
head and under part of the thorax, which is 
marked above by a longitudinal reddish- 
brown line : the length of the insect, from the 
mouth to the tips of the wings, is about two 
inches and a half: the female is distinguished 
by a long sword-shaped process at the end 
of the body, being the instrument with which 
she pierces the ground in order to deposit 
her eggs: it consists of a pair of valves, 
through the whole length of which the eggs 
are protruded : they are of an oblong form, 
and of a pale brown colour. 
5. The gryllus’ verrueivorus is also found 
in some parts of England, and is of an equal 
size with the viridissimus, but of a reddish- 
brown colour, with darker variegations : this 
animal, according to Linnaeus, is frequently 
applied by the people of Sweden to warts 
on the hands, which it is suffered to bite off, 
and is said thus to prevent their return. 
6. But of all the British insects of this ge- 
nus the gryllus gryllotalpa or mole-cricket 
is by far the most curious ; and in its colour 
and manners differs greatly from the rest. It 
is of an uncouth, and even formidable as- 
pect, measuring more than two inches in 
length; and is of a broad and slightly flat- 
tened shape, of a dusky brown colour, with 
a ferruginous cast o;t die under parts, and is 
readily distinguished by the extraordinary 
structure ot its fore-legs, which are exces- 
sively strong, and furnished with very broad 
feet, divided into several sharp, claw-shaped, 
segments, with which it is enabled to bur- 
row under ground in the manner of a mole : 
the lower wings, which when expanded are 
very large, are, in their usual state, so com- 
plicated under the very short and small up- 
per wings or sheaths, that their ends alone 
appear, reaching, in a sharpened form, along 
the middle of the back ; the abdomen is ter- 
minated by a pair of sharp-pointed, length- 
ened, hairy processes, nearly equalling the 
length of the antennae in front, and contri- 
buting- to give this animal an appearance in 
some degree similar to that of a blatta. 
The mole-cricket emerges from its sub- 
terraneous retreats only by night, when it 
creeps about the surface, and occasionally 
employs its wings in flight. It prepares for 
its eggs an oval nest, measuring about two 
inches in its longest diameter : this nest is 
situated a hand’s breadth below the surface, 
of the jground : it is accurately smoothed 
within, and is furnished with an obliquely 
curved passage leading to the surface. The 
eggs are about two hundred and fifty or three 
hundred in number, nearly round, of a deep 
brownish yellow colour, and of the size of 
common shot : on the approach of winter, 
or any great change of weather, these insects 
are said to remove the nest, by sinking it 
deeper, so as to secure it from the power of 
frost ; and when the spring commences, again 
j raising it in proportion to the warmth of the 
I season, till at length it is brought so near the 
surface as to receive the full influence of 
the air and sunshine ; but should unfavour- 
able weather again take place, they again 
sink the precious deposit, and thus preserve 
it from danger. The eggs are usually depo- 
sited in the months of June or July, and the 
young are hatched in August. At their 
first exclusion they are about the size of ants, 
for which, on a cursory view, they might be 
mistaken ; but on a close inspection are easily 
known by their broad feet, &c. In about 
the space of a month they are grown to the 
| length of more than a quarter of an inch • in 
; two months upwards of three quarters ; and 
in three months to the length of more than 
ah inch. Of this length they are usually seen 
during the close of autumn, after which they 
retire deep beneath the surface ; not ap- 
pearing again till the ensuing spring. Dur- 
ing their growth they cast their skin three or 
four times. . * 
The mole-cricket lives entirely on vege- 
tables, devouring the young roots of grasses, 
corn, and various esculent plants, and com- 
mits great devastation in gardens. It is 
found in most parts of Europe, and in the 
northern parts of Asia and America. 
7. The tetligonia or grasshopper, well 
known in our meadows, belongs to this ge- 
nus. 
8. The acheta or cricket, of which there 
are two varieties, the hearth and the lield 
cricket. 
9. The griseus is found in Italy. (See Plate 
Nat. Hist. fig. 215.) 
10. The stridulus inhabits most parts of 
Europe. (See Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 216.) 
GR\ PHI' FES, in natural history, in Eng- 
lish crow’s-stone, an oblong fossil shell, very 
narrow at the head, and becoming gradually 
wider to the extremity, where it ends in a 
circular limb : the head or beak of this is very 
hooked or bent inward. They are frequent- 
ly found in our gravel or clay-pits, in many 
counties. There are three or four distinct 
species of them ; some are extremely round- 
ed and convex on the back, others less so ; 
and the plates of which they are composed, 
are in some smaller and thinner, in others 
thicker and larger, in specimens of the same 
bigness. 
GUAIACLM, lignum xnta, or pockivood ; 
a genus of the monogynla order, in the de- 
candria class of plants, and in the natural 
method ranking under the 1 4th order, grui- 
8/9 
nales. The calyx is quinqueful and unequal ; 
the petals five, and inserted into the calyx ; 
the capsule is angulated, and trilocular or 
quinqueloeular. The species are 4 : 1 . The 
officinale, or common lignum vita: used in 
medicine, is a native of the West India isl- 
ands and the warmer parts of America. (See 
Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 217.) There it becomes 
a large tree, having a hard, brittle, brownish 
bark, not very thick. The wood is firm, so- 
lid, ponderous, very resinous, of a blackish 
yellow colour in the middle, and of a hot 
aromatic taste. The smaller branches have 
an ash-coloured bark, and leaves divided by 
pairs of a bright green colour. The flowers 
are produced in clusters at the end of the 
branches, and are composed of oval concave 
petals of a firfe blue colour. 2. T he sanc- 
tum, with many pairs of obtuse lobes, and 
many small lobes placed along the mid-rib 
by pairs of a darker green colour than those 
of the foregoing sort. T he flowers are pro- 
duced in ioose bunches towards the end of 
the branches, and are of a fine blue c olour, 
with petals fringed on the edges. This spe- 
cies is also a native of the West India islands, 
where it is called bastard lignum vitae. 3. 
The afrum, with many blunt-pointed leaves, 
is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. The 
plants retain their leaves all the year, but 
have never yet flowered in this country.- 4, 
The dubium, a native of the Soutn Seas. 
1'he first species can only be propagated 
by seeds, which must be procured from the 
countries where it naturally grows. They 
must be sown fresh in pots, and plunged 
into a good hotbed, where they will come 
up in six or eight weeks. While young, they 
may be kept in a hotbed of tan-bark under 
a frame during the summer ; but in autumn 
they must be removed into the bark stove, 
where they should constantly remain. The 
second sort may be propagated the same 
way ; but the third is to be propagated by 
layers, and will live ail the winter in a good 
greenhouse. 
T he wood of the first species is of very 
considerable use both in medicine and in 
the mechanical arts. It is so compact and 
heavy as to siyk in water. The outer part 
is often of a pale-yellowish colour ; but 'the 
heart is blacker, or rather of a deep brown. 
Sometimes it is marbled with different co- 
lours. It is so hard as to break the tools 
which are employed in felling it, and is there- 
fore seldom used as fire-wood, but is of great 
use to the sugar-planters for making wheels 
and cogs to sugar-mills. It is also- fre- 
quently wrought into bowls, mortars, and 
other utensils. It is brought over hither in 
large pieces of four or five hundredweight 
each; and from its hardness and beauty is in 
great demand for various articles of turnery 
ware. 
The wood, gum, bark, fruit, and even the 
flowers of this tree, have been found to pos- 
sess medicinal virtues ; but it is only the 3 
first, and more particularly the wo d and 
resin, which are now in general use in Eu- 
rope. The wood lias little or no smell, ex- 
cept when heated, or while rasping, and then 
a slight aromatic one is perceived. When 
chewed, it impresses a mild acrimony, biting 
the palate and fauces. Its pungency resides 
in its resinous matter, which it gives out in 
some degree to water by boiling, but spirit 
extracts it wholly. 
