946 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[May 25, 1872. 
host, changes its skin and assumes a second larva 
form (fig. 24), which somewhat resembles the larva of 
the Goldsmith beetle. Newport, who with Siebold, 
has carefully described the metamorphoses of Meloe, 
does not mention this stage in its development, which 
he calls ‘ pseudo-chrysalis.’ It is motionless; the 
head is mask-like, without movable appendages, and 
the feet are represented by six tubercles. This is 
more properly speaking the semi-pupa, and the ma¬ 
ture pupa grows beneath its mask-like form, which is 
finally moulted. This form, however, according to 
Fabre, changes its skin and turns into a third larva- 
form (fig. 25). After some time it assumes its true 
pupa form (fig. 20), and finally moults this skin to 
appear as a beetle (fig. 22).” 
“ There are other vesicatory beetles belonging to 
ihe genus Meloe , so named, it is supposed, because 
they are of a black or deep blue-black colour. They 
are called oil-beetles in England, on account of the 
yellowish liquid which oozes from their joints in 
large drops when they are handled. Their head is 
large, heart-shaped and bent down, as in the other 
blistering-beetles. Their thorax is narrowed be¬ 
hind, and very small in proportion to the rest of the 
•body. The latter is egg-shaped, pointed behind, 
.and so enormously large that it drags on the ground 
when the beetle attempts to walk. The wings are 
wanting, and of course these insects are unable to 
fly, although they have a pair of very short oval 
wing-covers, which overlap on their inner edges, 
and do not cover more than one-third of the abdo¬ 
men. These beetles eat the leaves of various kinds 
of buttercups. 
From the remarks of Dr. Hermann Burmeister it 
would appear that four species of Meloe are found, 
and more or less employed in the Argentine Pro¬ 
vinces,* i.e .:— 
Red-spotted Oil-beetle, Meloe miniaceo-macu- 
latus, D’Orb.; dull black; elytra with rounded 
minium-red spots, two at the base, and a third nearly 
apical, about three-quarters of an inch long. Found 
on Malvaceous plants. 
This species is figured in D’Orbigny’s voyage to 
South America (‘ Insecta,’ t. 15. f. 0). It is easily 
recognized by the red spots on its small elytra, and 
occurs in the interior of the province of Buenos 
Ayres. 
Klug’s Oil-beetle, Meloe Klugii, Erichs.; 
black; elytra with three yellow spots ; abdomen of a 
sanguineous brick-red. 
This species is described and figured—by Brandt 
and Erichson—in the Transactions of Acad. Cues. 
Leop. Cur. vol. xvi. pi. i. p. 103. t. 8. It is found in 
Banda Oriental. 
Two others were found and first described by Bur- 
meister,— Meloe sanguinolentus, Burm., in Mendoza; 
Meloe ebeninus, Burm., in Catamacca. 
All these species are enumerated in the ‘ Bevista 
Farmaceutica,’ of Buenos Ayres, for January, 1805. 
This completes the list of Coleopterous insects, 
which have, or have had, any reputation in medicine. 
It only remains briefly to enumerate the vesicants 
found amongst other insects, and the adulterants 
which have been found mixed with the officinal 
Cantliarides. 
XI. Miscellaneous. 
In addition to the vesicants furnished by the 
Order coleoptera , there are some few others which 
deserve notice, derived from other Orders of insects. 
Amongst these we include the one spider wliich has 
acquired a reputation for this property. 
Blistering Spider, Glubiona medicinal in, Walck.; 
abdomen oval, increasing slightly towards the pos¬ 
terior extremity, which is very much rounded, of a 
bluish-black, with a pale longitudinal mark near the 
corselet, and five stripes of the same colour, the last 
forming a triangle, which is brighter; feet, with 
brown spots.—Walck. Apteres, vol. i. p. 607. Tege- 
naria medicinalis, Hentz, Journ. Acad. Sc. Phil. ii. 
p. i. page 53. pi. 5. fig. 1 a. 
Moquin-Tandon says, “ According to Hentz there 
is in the United States a species of spider ( Tegcnaria 
medicinalis , Walck.) which the inhabitants use as a 
blistering agent. This species is common in the 
neighbourhood of Philadelphia. Similar properties 
are attributed to Clubio medicinalis.” These seem 
to be the same, as far as we can trace, and the Tege- 
naria medicinalis of Hentz would be synonymic with 
the Glubiona medicinalis of Walckenaer. 
Chinese Bed Lady-bug, Huechys sanguined, 
Amy. 
Dr. Porter Smith has drawn attention to this 
insect in his recently published Materia Medica of 
China, and afterwards in a note published in this 
Journal (p. 4), from the Medical Times. It is the 
chu-ki, or ailantlius bug, called the “ Bed Lady- 
bug” in the book above alluded to. It belongs to 
the Homoptera , and frequents the Ailantlius , and 
other trees. The head, thorax, and legs are black; 
the prothorax is red; the eyes are very prominent; 
a large, bright red spot on each side of the thorax 
above; the front pair of wings are dark brown, 
appearing nearly black when closed on the back of 
the insect; the hind pair of wings are pale, with 
brown veins; and the belly is of a bright vermilion- 
red. 
Dr. Smith states that they are capable of raising 
a blister, but are much less powerful than the My- 
labris, with which they are combined in the treat¬ 
ment of hydrophobia. The legs and wings are 
removed, and the bodies only are used for medicinal 
purposes. 
For other particulars we may refer the reader back 
to page 4 of the present volume. 
Andol-andol. —This vesicant lias already been 
alluded to (p. 424). It is obtained from Java, but 
we have no clue to the order of insects to which it 
belongs. 
Indian Bhir-buti. —In the Punjab is found an 
insect called “ Bhir-buti,” which is of a “ beautiful 
scarlet colour, resembling a piece of scarlet velvet. 
These are collected during the rains, and yield an 
oil. They have a use similar to cantharides, as a 
blister and irritant.” This is all the information we 
possess, for which we are indebted to Baden Powell’s 
report on Punjab Products. 
Processionary Caterpillars, Gnetliocampa pro¬ 
cessioned, and Gnetliocampa pityocavpa. 
The caterpillars of two species of moth are be¬ 
lieved to possess powerful irritant properties. The 
fine hairs with which they are clothed cause great 
irritation when they come in contact with the human 
skin, but they probably act merely in a mechanical 
manner. The ancients employed indicating cater¬ 
pillars in the formation of sinapisms. Reaumur and 
Dorthes thought that w T hen pounded, they might, 
under certain circumstances, be made useful as a 
# Pjiarm. Journ., Ser. 2. Vol. VI. p. 648. 
