( 3'o ) 
morcablc hinder part, and hcr legs, 
placing them one by the fidc of 
another, in the form of a little 
beat. This veflel, compofed of 
two or three hundred eggs, fwims 
on the water for two or three days, 
after which they are hatched. If 
Horms arife, the beats are funk. 
Every month, there îs a frefh pro- 
geny of thefe infeéls. Were they 
not devoured by fwallows, other 
birds, and by fcveral carnivoi'ous 
infedts, the air would bc darkened 
by them. Griats in this country, 
however troublcfome they may be, 
do not make us fecl them fo fe- 
vercly, as the mulkcto- flics do, in 
foreign parts. 
flotte fur Tcau pendant deux, ou 
trois jours, au bout defquels ils 
eclofcnt. S’il s’e'levcdes tempêtes, les 
petites barques coulent à fond. Il 
fc fait tous les mois une génération 
nouvelle de ces infeftes. Si les 
oifeaux, comme les hirondelles, & 
plufîcurs infeétes carnaciers ne les 
dévoroient, l’air en feroit obfcurci. 
Les confins de ces pays-ci quclqu’in- 
commodes, qu’ils foient, ne fefont 
pas tant fcntirqueles maringoins. 
G E N U S 6. E M P I S. Tab. XVII. 
CHARACTER GENERIS. 
Os roftro corneo, inflexo, bivalvi, thorace longiore valvulis horizon- 
talibus. Linn. fyft. nat. p. 1003. 
6th . G E N U S. The E M P I S. PI. XVII. 
CHARACTER OF THE GENUS. 
The probofcîs is of a horny fubilance, bivalve, inclined downwards 
under the head and breaft, and longer than the throax. The valves are 
horizontal. 
6 . 
