Th HISTORY of INSECTS. 
generation, until they have caft their laft skin. ‘ 
At leaft, I have been taught fo by all the ex- 
perience I have had in their examination. 
Neither do the Ephemeri breed or engen+ 
der in the air; this may be eafily obferved when 
they fly. Befides, they could not poffibly breed 
in the air, becaufe the legs of the males are fo 
vattly lengthened after the laft change of the 
skin, that Clutius took them for horns. Thofe 
who would favour fuch an opinion, muft con- 
fider what an apparatus is neceffary for fuch 
coition in the air ; as may be feen in thofe Flies 
which do it, and particularly in the Libellz, 
which perform their venereal embraces in a 
wonderful manner, flying and wandering all 
the time in the air, vifibly coupled a long while 
together. 
I therefore conclude from all my obferva= 
Ca¥, He 
i17 
tions, that the Ephemeri never engender 
together, either in the air or water, but that 
the female only throws her eggs on the water, 
and the maleafterwards pours its {perm, which 
it carries about it flying, as the female does its” 
eggs, upon them; fo that this operation is 
performed without any communication of the 
two fexes. All thefe things are haftily tranf- 
acted in the fhort period of a moft tranfi- 
tory life, fo that a more accurate inquiry into 
them cannot poffibly be made. | 
Thefe little creatures do not eat in the whole 
courfe of their lives, while perfect flying crea- 
tures, as is alfo the cafe with many other in- 
fects. I have likewife found by experience, 
that Frogs, Lizards, Serpents and Cameleons, 
are capable of living without eating many weeks; 
nay months. 
P. IX. 
How long the Ephemerus lives, and what haftens its death. 
j \HLE Ephemerus thus flying about and 
wandering over the furface of the wa- 
ter, and moving fometimes up and fométimes 
down through the air, never lives more than 
four or at moft five hours, that is from fix of 
the clock in the evening, or half an hour after, 
‘until eleven at night. This I fay from experi- 
ence, becaufe I have carried fome of them en- 
clofed in a box into my chamber, and there 
accurately obferved the length of their lives. 
All die in this very fhort {pace of time, nor 
do any of them, which is a matter very wor- 
thy of obfervation, die a natural death on land. 
All of them invariably go to the water again, 
after they have gone through the fecond change 
of their skin. God therefore, the {upreme artift, 
has been _pleafed to affign this infect a fhort life 
that furpaffes all adoration. 
Who has fo great a genius, or is fo converfant 
in the art of writing, as to be able to defcribe, 
with a due fenfe, the trouble, and misfortunes 
this creature is fubject to, during the fhort con- 
tinuance of its flying life. For my part, I con- 
fefs Iam by no means able to execute this task. 
Nor do I know whether nature ever produced 
a more innocent and fimple little creature, 
which is, notwithftanding, deftined to undergo 
fo many ’miferies and horrible dangers. 
Befides, that the life of the Ephemerus is 
fhort, nay, amazingly and incomprehenfibly fo, 
an infinite number of them are always deftroyed 
in the birth, being devoured by fith. Nor does 
Clutius acquit any {pecies of fith of this barba- 
rity except the Perch and Pike. Though the 
reft of the Ephemeri have efcaped this cruel 
danger, yet on land, when they are engaged in 
the great work of changing their skin, they are 
barbaroufly devoured by Swallows and other 
birds. Nay, if they efcape this danger, when 
they afterwards approach again to the. furface 
of the water, and careiefsly {port and play there 
in the fpace of five hours. 
with their wings and tails, they a fecond timé 
become a prey to the fifh, which drag them 
away to the dark bottom of the water and de- 
vour them. If they fly higher into the air, 
another kind of torment attends them, for then 
they are perfecuted with a different barbarity 
by other kinds of birds, which tear their limbs 
Afunder and devour them. Though thefe in- 
feé&ts then are the moft innocent, perhaps, of all 
others, they are more cruelly treated or ufed 
than the moft mifchievous of wild beafts. 
As the Ephemerus abounds with ufeful lef= 
fons and moral precepts, fo it affords fufficient 
matter for various {peculations. It is ingen- 
dered, grows to its bignefs, and then generates, 
lays eggs, cafts its {perm, grows old, and dies 
: This fhort time 
comprehends the morning, noon and evening 
of its life. 
When the Ephemerus is flying, and particu- 
larly a little before the end of that time, the 
Trout, which eats it as its food, comes to its 
perfection: its flefh and flavour being finer than 
at any other time. This I have been affured 
of by Nicholas Tulpius, formerly conful at 
Amfterdam, for he fairly made trial of the 
‘matter. 
One may ask further this queftion, why, ex- 
clufive of all thofe dangers and misfortunes, thé 
life of the Ephemerus thould be fo fhort? In 
anfwer to this let it be-obferved, that the eggs 
of the Ephemerus, whilft it ftill fwims as a 
Worm, are arrived to their perfection, fo that 
as foon as the infect is increafed and perfeéted 
by changing and extending its limbs, thofe eggs 
are inftantly fit for production or birth: ‘to 
which may be added, that the Ephemerus has 
not the nourifhing of its offspring; wherefore 
God has made this creature likewife, more than 
others, void of reafon, as the Oftrich among 
birds, that He, from whom fprings all reafon 
Hh and 
