1210.) Leiters from 
with along horn proceeding from its nose, 
erifices, out of which the gum oozes. 
On turning to the plate which Mr, Jack- 
son has given of this curious insect, { was 
nota little surprised to gee a figure, not 
ofa beetle, but ofa Fly, with two naked 
wings, and without any elytra, or wing- 
cases. But much greater was my asto- 
rishment, in having occasion, a short 
time afterwards, to turn over the plates of 
Bruce’s Travels, to find, that Mr. Jack- 
son’s ammoniac beetle is precisely the 
same insect as Bruce has figured for the 
zimb or Isalt-Salya, the cestus or gad- 
fly, of which he has given such a curious 
account, except that the former has a 
long straight horn at its nose; the latter, 
three parallel hairs. This curious cis- 
covery led meto ponder, not a little, 
Gn so strange a coincidence; and at 
length, I reduced the various suppositions 
which occurred to me, asits cause, into 
the two following, which are the only 
ones atali probable :—Either Mr. Jack- 
son’s gum ammoniac fly is the same in- 
sect (for the slight difference in the horn 
is evidently to be attributed to the 
draughtsman) as Mr. Bruce’s zim, 1. e. 
a beetle, which feeds upon the guni am- 
moniac tree in Africa, the same insect 
as the gad-fly, which feeds upon the 
oxen and camels in Abyssinia,—a fact 
most marvellous and extraordinary,—or 
that Mr. Jackson, wanting to beautify 
his work with some pretty plates, and 
having no drawing of bis gum beetle, did 
not scruple to substitute for it a copy, 
slightly altered, of Mr. Bruce’s zimb. 
If the latter supposition, which is, I 
fear, the most probable, be correct, it 
proves very clearly two things. First, 
that an author who would stoop to sach 
deception, cannot be worthy of general 
credit, with regard to his other state. 
ments; and, secondly, the low state of 
entomological science in this country, 
_where an author does not hesitate tolaugh 
at his readers, by giving them a figure of a 
fly, and then telling them that itis a deetle / 
I shall be glad, if Mr. Jackson can ex- 
plain this phenomenon, which has made 
such an impression upon an 
Nov. 16, 1809. ENTOMOLOGIST. 
<tr 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
LETTERS descriptive of CHELTENHAM, 
and its VICINITY. 
LECTER <L 
’ Cheltenham, Fuly 12, 1808. 
OU will very naturally expect, that 
after the slight sketch, which 
I gave you in my last, of the county of 
Cheltenham. S15 
Glocester, some description of this:charm- 
ing little town wall be the next object to 
which f shall call your attention. Hed 
this task been properly performed by 
the authors of the very elegunt and cor- 
rect Guides” and “* Directories,” whick 
are here to be purchased, I should have 
saved myself some trouble, by transmuit- 
ting their productions fer your perusal ; 
but as I conceive you would not feel in- 
terested in knowing the descent of the 
manor, the latitude and longitude of the 
place, or in reading a “ profoundly dull” 
dissertation on the medicinal qualities 
of tle waters, I have endeavoured to 
collect such information, as ntay, per- 
haps, prove amusing to you now, and 
useful hereafter, should you ever visit 
this place of fashionable resort. — 
Cheltenham is usually described as be- 
ing situated in the * Vale of Evesham ;” 
but as there is no natural division be- 
tween this valley and that part of Gloces- » 
tershire known by the general name of 
‘the Vale,” the whole district might, with 
much propriety, be included in the more 
comprehensive appellation of the Vale of 
Severn. Fhe Coteswold hills, rising ale 
most immediately behind the town,, feem 
a screen that protects it from the cold 
blasts of the north and east, while their 
elevated summits give spirit to the scene- 
ry around, and produce a delightful va- 
rietyin the pleasant rides, with whieh 
this neighbourhood abounds. 
Before the discovery of the Spa, Chel- 
tenham was an inconsiderable straggling 
town. The houses were principally 
thatched, and the inhabitants, for the 
most part, poor. A stream of water ran, 
through the street, and it was. only by 
the aid of stepping stones, that a coma 
munication was kept up between the 
diferent sides of it. Its convenient si- 
tuation, however, between Coteswoild 
and the Vale, always rendered ita e@usi 
e@usi- 
derable mart for sheep and.corn. Thepaly 
articles of commerce manufactured in the 
place were worsted stockings, which it 
was formerly no uncommon thing to see 
the good women knitting at their doors, 
But how is the scene now. changed? 
Little did the simple ‘inhabitants then 
think of the treasure thei fields con- 
tained—a treasure which a concurrence 
of favourable circumstances lias siice ren- 
dered of inestimable value. Who would 
have imagined, at the beginning of the 
last century, that a trifling spring, gently 
rising in.an adjoining meadow, could, with 
an almost talismanic power, so com- 
pletely revolutionize the town and neigh- 
bourhaod? 
