184 
GOAT-JIOTn. 
hinder edge of the abdominal segments, which, when 
one side of the rings is moved forward by the wrig- 
gling of the abdomen, prevent their sliding hack, 
and the opposite side is brought forward by a repe- 
tition of the same manoeuvre. The caterpillar dif- 
fuses a subtile and very peculiar odour, which is 
felt at a considerable distance, and from its sup- 
posed resemblance to that of a goat, has cfiused the 
insect to he so named. “ The object and seat of 
this odour,” says 5Ir. ICnapp, “ seem not well un- 
derstood. Some have conjectured it to proceed 
from a fluid evacuated from the mouth, and dis- 
charged to soften the wood in which tliey burrow. 
But it seems inconsistent with any probability, that 
tliis creature, which is furnished with such very 
powerful mandibles, should be gifted with an auxi- 
liary aid to accomplish its object ; while, of the 
many insects that perforate timber, most of them 
with inferior means, no other possesses an equiva- 
lent agent to facilitate its labours ; for not one of 
them, as fivr as we know, is so supplied. Besides, 
if such were the purpose, the discharge would be 
made only when required, and thus this unpleasant 
odour not always be perceptible. The microscope, 
too, docs not manifest the exudation of any fluid*.” 
Tliis caterpillar attaches itself chiefly to oaks, 
ashes, willows, and poplars. It abounds in many 
parts of England, but the moth does not occur in 
any thing like proportionate numbers. Although 
the appearance of the caterpillar is disgusting to 
* Journal of a Naturalist, 295. 
