31 
Natural History of the Goat Moth. 
no less than one thousand at a time,* they are 
soon vivified by the warmth of the summer’s sun, 
and commence their ravages on the tree, by eat- 
ing a passage for themselves horizontally, through 
the bark to the soft wood.—HaAing established 
themselves in the soft wood, they continue to bur¬ 
row downwards, the diameter of the perforations 
increasing with the stature of its inmate, until, at 
the expiration of the third winter, the period they 
continue in their laiwa state, they have attained 
the size of a man’s finger, (4) and are, according 
to Lyonett, 72,000 times heavier than w'hen they 
issued from the egg; they are of a dingy white 
colour, and emit an intolerable foetid odour, yet in 
in the opinion of Linnaeus, they WTre a favourite 
dish with the Romans.f It occasionally feeds 
on the ash and oak, but its favourite plant appears 
to be the alder, (AInus Glutinosus) and the round 
leaved wallow, (Sdlix Cdprea) and amongst these 
its attacks are in a great measure limited to trees 
giwing in watery places, possibly the great quan¬ 
tity of water, absorbed by the tree in such situa¬ 
tion, may render it more palatable, but the greater 
probability seems to be, that the soft wood 
• Kirby and Spence’s Introduction to the Study of Entomology, Vol. Ill, page 89. 
+ The tastes of mankind are as various as their complexions;—in one part of the world, 
A.'safcetida is so much relished as to be termed “Food of G^,’’ in another it is exe¬ 
crated as “Devil’s-Dung." 
