Natural History of the Goat Moth. 
3 
31 
no less than one thousand at a time,* they are 
soon vivified by the warmth of the summer's sun, 
and commence their ravages on the tree, by eat- 
ing a passage for themselves horizontally, through 
the bark to the soft wood. — Having established 
themselves in the soft wood, they continue to bur- 
row do^vTiwards, the diameter of the perforations 
increasing with the stature of its inmate, until, at 
the expiration of the third \\inter, the period they 
continue in their larva state, they have attained 
the size of a man's finger, (4) and are, accordmo 
to Lyonett, 72,000 times heavier than when they 
issued from the ^gg', they are of a dingy white 
colour, and emit an intolerable foetid odour, yet m 
in the opinion of Linnaeus, they were a favomite 
dish with the Romans.-f- It occasionally feeds 
on the ash and oak, but its favourite plant appeal s 
to be the alder, (Alnxis Glutindsus) and the round 
leaved willow, (Scilix Cdprea) and amongst these 
its attacks are in a great measure limited to trees 
growing in watery places, possibly the great quan- 
tity of water, absorbed by the tree in such situa- 
tion, may render it more palatable, but the greater 
probability seems to be, that the soft wood of such 
" Kirby and Spence's Introduction to the Study of Entomology, Vol. IIT, page 89. 
+ The tastes of mankind are as various as their complexions; — in one part of the world, 
Assafoetida is so much rehshed as to be termed "Food of God," in another it is exe- 
crated as "Devil's- Dung." 
