INSECTS. 469 
ing a quantity of them with their bare hands in the heat of 
the sun. They are generally caught by laying linen cloths 
under the trees they infest, and then beating the boughs ; 
they are then put into hair sieves, and held over vessels 
of boiling vinegar, the vapour of which kills them. They 
are afterwards dried in ovens, or on hurdles, exposed to 
the sun, and then packed up for sale. When dried fifty 
of them hardly weigh a drachm. These insects, powdered, 
are used for blisters. It is said to be extremely dangerous 
to sleep under a tree covered with these insects; as their 
smell produces a lethargic sleep, which frequently termi- 
nates in death. The larvae are said to be very slow in 
their motions, but very little is known of them, except 
that they always appear from the ground, in which the 
eggs are deposited. 
THE LADY BIRD, OR LADY COW. 
(Coccinella septem punctata.) 
THE larva of this well-known and beautiful little beetle 
is disagreeable and almost disgusting in its appearance ; 
but to compensate for this it is extremely useful in de- 
stroying the aphis, or green fly. In the perfect insect the 
elytra are scarlet, beautifully spotted with black ; the 
head is very small, the antennae and legs very short, and 
the body nearly round. The English name is said to be 
derived from the quiet habits of the insect, as it is so gen- 
tle that it may crawl on a lady's hand without her know- 
ing it. 
