THE BLOSSOM EATER,. 
399 
are of a violet hue. The elytra are coriaceous, and feem. 
as if cut through obliquely from the inner to the exterior 
edges, being thicker at their future than at the fides. Some 
naturalifts have termed this fpecies the un&uous cantharis, 
from that fat, oily, and fragrant fubftance, which exfudes 
from the body *. This oleaginous matter enters into the 
compofition of lalve for plague-fores; and is deemed an 
excellent antidote againll the poifon of the fcorpion’S 
iting. 
Meloe veficatorius. This is the fpecies fo frequently 
rsfed in pharmacy ; an infect to which man is perhaps 
more deeply indebted, than to any individual belonging 
to this clafs of beings. The bliftering cantharis is about 
nine lines in length ; {he colour a refulgent green, mix- 
ed with azure. In the fouthern parts of Europe it mul- 
tiplies exceedingly ; fome of the provinces of Spain an- 
nually receive a large fum for thofe they export to the 
reft of Europe. They are there feen flying in vaft 
fvtarms, and alighting upon trees and (limbs, wbofe leaves 
they devour. They are faid to prefer the afli leaf to that 
of any ttee in the foreit ; but whatever leaves they de- 
vour, they are uniformly accompanied with a heavy 
naufeous fmell, like that of mice, and thence their haunts 
are difcovered by thofe who go in quell of them. 
In their humid and living Hate, the odour exhaled 
from thefe infects is fo corrolive and irritating, that the 
gathering them is attended with danger. In that occu- 
pation, the labourers, who imprudently colled! them in 
the heat of the day, and with their hands uncovered, are 
frequently feized with a violent heat of urine, and void- 
ing of blood. The fame accidents befal thofe who un- 
warily flecp under the trees they frequent. 
Thf 
* pale Pharm- p. 391 
