The HES T'O RY of INS ©-@T 8. 
éach fide of this Worm are feen nine reddifh 
points or {pots 4, not exactly round, but fome- 
what compreffed like the feed of the kidney- 
bean. Thefe are the orifices of the pulmo- 
nary tubes, and hence I call them puncta ref- 
piratoria, or points of refpiration. The firft 
annular incifion, which conftitutes the head, 
has no point or mark of that kind: the fecond 
exhibits the firft aperture of the pulmonary 
tubes, over which there is likewife a coloured 
fpot cin each fide of the body. The third and 
fourth rings again have no fuch {pots or points, 
becaufe, as fhall be afterwards explained, the 
fheaths or cafes of the wings, and the wings 
themfelves, which the Beetle to be produced 
out of this Worm hides under thefe fheaths; 
_ increafe in procefs of time in that part, and can- 
not be perforated. On account of thofe theaths 
thefe infects are called vaginipennia, or fheath- 
winged. The fifth therefore and fixth incifi- 
ons, and the reft:that follow in order behind 
thefe, to the number of twelve inclufive, have 
each their points of refpiration. The head, 
which is of a bright red colour, and fomewhat 
rough, has feveral diftin& parts, eyes, horns d, 
and teeth ee, but the lip is fplit in two parts, 
and is vifible among the teeth: above thefe are 
placed the antenne or certain prickly and arti- 
culated hairs, which lie as it were under the 
skin; thefe are very ufeful when the Worm 
is feeding. In Locufts likewife the fame briftly 
hairs are obferved, but more confpicuous, and 
they are of great ufe at the time the Locuft 
changes its skin, and cafts it off from the claws, 
teeth and eyes. It is not difficult to keep the 
Locufts alive, if raifins are given them to eat; 
for if thefe are put on a thread one after an- 
other, and hung up in a wicker basket, the 
Locufts will eat them even to the skin. The 
Coffus has fix {mall legs g, three on each fide 
of its body, of a yellowifh red, furnifhed with 
claws and hair, divided into five joints, and placed 
at the fecond, third, and fourth annular incifions 
of the body, or the neareft to the head. The 
other or hinder rings of the Worms fhine like 
a looking-glafs, the skin being there extended 
and very {mooth. Hence the furface is there 
_ of a tranfparent blue, and under it are feen 
fome of the air-pipes, Tab. XX VII. fig. v..A, 
of a filver colour, making a wonderfully ele- 
gant and beautiful appearance. The reft of 
the skin terminated at the anus zis covered with 
fine and tender briftly hairs £44. The motions 
of this Worm are fluggifh, and all its ations 
heavy. Its greateft ftrength is in the head, 
_ breaft and legs, for by the help of thefe, it 
immediately forms for itfelf another hole in the 
_ earth or other matter, whenever it is taken out 
of it. And whenthis happens, it bends its back 
very much, and gathers its belly as.it were 
into a femicircular cavity, nearly in the fame 
-manner wherein I have delineated it, 
It frequently happens, that the fumach or 
wood wherein thefe Worms live, grows by a 
natural fermentation warm in the fame man- 
ner as moift hay, and at length becomes very 
‘in thefe and other the like Worms. 
1335 
hot. The Coffi do not regard that, for the 
warmer their habitation is, the better they live 
in it; they have at thefe times much better 
health, and are more brisk and lively than 
ufual, and if they are roughly touched, they 
are more quick and violent in defending them= 
felves by biting; though thefe Worms are not 
otherwife of a mifchievous difpofition, but on 
the contrary they are very gentle and mild. 
Whilft the Coffus becomes infenfibly bigger, 
it fometimes changes its skin like the Silk 
worm: but Ihave not yet learned from ob- 
fervation how often that happens. Before the 
Worm cafts its skin, it firft, like Silk-worms, 
alfo difcharges itfelf of all its excrements, and 
then bending its body, it makes a new hole in 
the earth, that it may be able to caft its skin 
the more conveniently in a feparate habitation. 
Nothing in all nature is, in my opinion, a 
more wonderful fight, than the change of skin 
This 
matter therefore deferves the greateft confide- 
ration, and is worthy to be called a {pecimen 
of nature’s miracles ; for it is not the external 
skin only that thefe Worms cait, like Serpents, 
but the throat and a part of the ftomach, and 
even the inward furface of the great gut, change 
their skin at the fame time. But this is not 
the whole of thefe wonders, for at the fame 
time fome hundreds of pulmonary pipes within 
the body of the Worm, caft alfo each its dili- 
cate and tender skin. ‘Thefe feveral skins are 
afterwards collected into eighteen thicker, and 
as it were compounded ropes, Tab. XXVII. 
fig. vVI.@4¢444444 4, nine on each fide of the 
body, which, when the skin is caft, flip gently 
and by degrees from within the body, through 
the eighteen apertures or orifices of the pul- 
monary tubes before defcribed, having their 
tops or ends directed upwards towards the 
head. Two other branches alfo of the pul- 
monary pipes that are fmaller, and have no 
points of refpiration, caft a skin likewife, 4 4. 
Moreover, each of the eighteen points or aper- 
tures of refpiration are likewife obferved to 
open and dilate their orifices at the fame time. 
If any one feparates the caft little ropes or con- 
geries of the pulmonary pipes with a fine nee- 
dle, he will very diftinctly fee the branches and 
ramifications cc ¢c of thefe feveral Pipes, and 
alfo their annular compofition. The skull is 
then likewife divided into three parts 1,.2, g. 
Its middle.part fhews the teeth d d, which are 
renewed and the old onesthruft out: in the 
middle of thefe is feen a lip ¢, and on each fide 
there are prominent horns ff. Behind the lip 
may be feen the skull, terminating like a tri- 
angle in an acute point, on each fide of which 
are {een the two other portions gg of the bone 
divided into three parts. The {harp-pointed or 
prickly antenna are likewife changed, and from 
the eyes themfelves is taken a tranfparent mem- 
brane. ‘This happens likewife in Serpents when 
they caft their skin. The exuvie or caft skin 
exhibits fix apertures, wherein the legs 5 were 
fixed.: _and the divifions or wrinkles, and little 
depreffieng 
