56 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
their history :— u The Franciscan friar has treated his subject extremely well, and 
as a man of letters; but yet he is not quite divested of some vulgar errors. I 
remark this the rather, as the characters are necessary to be noted when extra¬ 
ordinary phenomena are to be set forth.” So it would appear, that if the good 
father accuses the natives of holding vulgar errors, so also he is himself accused 
of the same by the librarian of the Royal College of Physicians. 
Edwards was an ardent, though unscientific naturalist; he had, as Swainson 
observes, the simplicity and piety of Izaac Walton, and may be looked upon as one 
of our greatest worthies. He was one of Linneus’s many correspondents, and was 
accustomed to send him proof impressions of his plates of rare animals, according 
as they were printed. On the occasion of his forwarding to Upsal the plate re¬ 
cently mentioned, Linneus wrote the following letter, which it may not be amiss 
to quote:— 44 I have received your new plates, all excellently delineated and co¬ 
loured, according to your usual manner. But what chiefly induces me to write is, 
your table 336, in which you represent some 4 vegetating wasps,’ and which appear 
to be Vespse; provided they have four wings—a circumstance I wish to be informed 
of. My thoughts are so taken up with these productions that I cannot sleep 
without dreaming of them. I conjure you to write to me the first day you can 
spare, to explain this phenomenon. What is the shrub, or branch of a shrub, 
w'hich grows out of the back or breast of the insect ? Is it a small branch of a 
rose? What connection is there between them? Is the branch of the plant 
grafted upon the insect so as to grow out of it? You are very cruel if you do not 
speedily relieve me from this puzzle. I never saw anything in nature like this 
production. If, indeed, the wasp merely cuts off the tip of a branch to build its 
nest with, the mystery is solved; otherwise it is altogether wonderful. Whence 
did you procure this wasp ? Is there no deceit in the specimen ?” It is to be 
hoped that the curiosity of the great Swede was fully satisfied on these points. 
Unhappily, this letter is the last that is on record as having passed between them. 
It may be remarked that Edwards figures the wasps flying , though their original 
discoverer found them dead on the field; and this it was, perhaps, that gave 
Linneus the curious idea that they might have taken the tips of branches to build 
their nests. Some other wasps were found in the Island of Dominica, which 
buried themselves in May, and began to vegetate towards the end of July—or, 
rather, they were found so about that time. When the tree had arrived at its full 
growth, it resembled a coral branch, about three inches high, bearing several little 
pods, which were supposed by the inhabitants to 44 drop off and become worms, and 
thence flies.” This plant is supposed to be a species of Clavaria, similar to the one 
which is sometimes found on dead horses’ hoofs. An interesting account has been 
given by a gentleman who, while botanizing in America, found lying on the ground 
a wasp’s nest, which had, by some means unknown to him, been separated from a 
branch of a laurel, near which it had fallen. The creatures were in a strange 
condition after this disaster to their dwelling; some were flitting about over their 
cells, and by the softness of their wings, and the faintness of their colours, w r ere 
easily known to have been hatched but a short time. Many of them were lying 
dead on the ground ; and on examining these he instantly perceived vegetables pro¬ 
ceeding from tbeir bodies, which were uniformly attached to the thorax. He 
collected about fifty of these vegetating wasps. On inspecting the nest he found a 
considerable proportion of the cells empty. This, however, was not the case with 
them all, for there were still some that contained young wasps in the state of larvas. He 
drew them from their cells, and satisfied himself that there was an incipient vege¬ 
tation ; and, moreover, that its progress had kept pace with the growth of the 
insect. In some instances the vegetation is considered to commence only when 
life has ceased ; and in confirmation of this view it is related that in Trinidad, a 
wasp was found, apparently in a perfect condition, glued somehow by one of its 
wings to the leaf of a tree; from all parts of its body issued filaments, from one to 
three inches long, shining black, and resembling the plant called 44 Spanish beard.” 
HEMIPTERA. 
We also find fungi attacking the Cicadse ; and Mr. Edwards figures one, with a 
fungus growing out of its head, which was brought from Dominica, a neutral 
