PP eo ae A 
£58 NATURAL HISTORY. 
Ve 
LAMPYRIS NOCTILUCA or MARTINI. | 
CO,——FIRE FLY or MARTINICO. | 
‘Tuts fly, according to the Pere de Tertré, is lefs 9 
_ than the common fly. They emit a fparkling golden © 
light, which is extremely agreeable. But the infect © 
Withdraws and lets it fhine at intervals, alternately, 7 
throughout the night. ‘This effulgence is contained ‘4 
in a whitifh fubftance, of which the tnfeét is fo full, as 7 
to make it appear through the crevices of its fkin at 
its pleafure. 7 : 
Thefe different fire flies feem deftined by nature | 
“not only to cheer the bofom of darkfome night, but — 
to guide the wandering favage through the pathlefs » 
_ wood, or defert wild, Indeed by their light, he may — 
‘Yay more fecret {nares for his fhaggy prey on the 7» 
mountain, or his finny prey in the deep, than he could © 
by the prefence of the fun.— Thus, being deprived of 
‘that artificial light which he can only pofiefs from — 
civilization, nature has fortunately created thele ad- — 
mirable infects for his convenience. i 

—Fe$e NG MERE G04 - 
GENUS XX. . 
CANTHARISs« — 
CHARACTER. 
‘ ie HEIR horns or feelers are briftly ; their breaft 
is margined ; and their elytra, or wing cafes, are 
