86 The BOOK of NATURE; or, 
very fine and flender neck. On the forepart of 
the head, were placedtwo oblong horns. It had fix 
long black legs, and wings longer than the body, 
which glittered like mother of pearl. ‘The body 
{carce differed in colour from that of the Worm. 
This Fly, when moving through the air, ap- 
pears no bigger than an atom of duft. It is very 
furprifing how. ingenuous thefe little animals 
are in depofiting their eggs within the tender 
buds of fuch leaves as are fit to afford fhelter and 
nourifhment to the Worms that are to rife from 
them, that, by this means, they may be able, in 
obedience to the immutable ‘laws of nature, to 
_tenew their {pecies from year to year, and con- 
tinue it even to the end of the world, 
Of Worms which are found enclofed in tubercles like Rofes, that appear on the tops 
1 of Willow branches ; and likewife in many of the dwarf Willows that grow upon 
heaths and commons. 
WE not unfrequently fee a tubercle formed 
at the ends of Willow branches, in the 
_fhape ofa Rofe *, and which the learned Mouf- 
fet accordingly calls by that name, Fig. xvz.a. 
In fome feafons, thefe tubercles appear in great 
numbers, and in others, they are fcarce.. I once 
obferved, in company with Meffieurs Thevenot 
and Henon, that there was hardly a fingle Wil- 
low branch in all the open country, that lies near 
a little fea-town called Egmont, which had not 
one of thefe tubercles at its extremity. - 
After breaking off the external leaves.of this 
tubercle, there appears in the middle an affem- 
blage of other tender leaves, in form of a pear, 
Fig, xvi. 6; which lie one over another, in the 
fame manner with the innermoft leaves of 
the Cinara or Artichoke, fo as to make it necef- 
fary to pull them off one by one, Fig. xvir. c. 
in order to obtain a fight of the Worm, d, which 
lies hid within them, wrapped up in a tender 
and delicate membrane, or kind of web, e. 
This Worm lies there in an inverted pofture, with 
its head the loweft, and its tail the higheft part 
of its body ; and itis fo narrowly confined within 
its web, and in the furrounding leaves, that it 
feems very probable, it cannot either move at all, 
or, at moft, not without great difficulty: in this 
refpect, it differs extremely from all the other 
Worms that have been before defcribed. On 
extracting it from the place of its birth, f, its 
body appears compofed of various rings, and is 
fomewhat flenderer towards the tail, than the 
head. Its colour is of a florid red, and by no 
means unhandfome. 
The food of this Worm is no other than the 
juices of the Willow, flowing to the extremities 
of the branches, where the infect is moft conve- 
niently placed to receive them. . There is not 
the leaft excrement to be found with this Worm, 
nor indeed with thofe laft defcribed, which 
makes it probable, that, like the feetus, while it 
lives in the mother’s womb, and is there fub- 
fitted by nourifhment, taken in after a peculiar 
manner, thefe infects retain their excrements till 
they appear in the Fly-ftate. I omitted unfor- 
tunately difleQing this infect, though, by doing 
fo, I might have attained perhaps a fatisfactory 
folution of this uncommon circumftance. I could 
not have found any difficulty in inveftigating the 
* This peculiar exerefcence of the Willow, we have very common in the fenny counties in England. I have feen them on the . 
matter that way, as I could eafily have procured 
what number of thefe infects I pleafed: but our 
negligence and inattention are fo great, that we 
generally defpife thofe things that are undér our 
hands, to fatisfy an inordinate curiofity of know- 
ing and poffefling thofe which lie at.a greater di- 
ftance, and are hard to be obtained. ‘The bef 
of us muft own himfelf fo far the flave of vani-. 
ty, as to be more defirous of producing any 
thing foreign and unheard of, than that which 
is {pontaneous in our own country. Though 
the Majefty and Wifdom of God, the fountain 
of all revealed wonders, moft evidently thew 
themfelves the objects of our love, praife, and. 
adoration, equally in every creature. 
A fault of the fame inexcufable kind, made me 
forget myfelf fo far, as to neglect examining the 
egg of this infect, though the little rofe, which 
had firft engaged my attention, is prodaced 
merely to cherifh it. This is plain from the Wil- 
low branches never bearing any fuch excrefcen- 
ces, unlefs thefe Worms are inthem; for, when 
the parent infects happen not to depofit their eggs 
-at the extremities of the branches, they fhoot 
into feparate leaves of the common form. Thefe 
Worms perform their changes for the Fly-ftate 
at two different periods, namely about mid-fum- 
mer, and in {pring, when the Willows begin to 
bud. Thofe which aflume the Nymph-ftate, 
Tab. XLIV. Fig. xvi. g, in fummer, without 
{tirring from the place of their birth, in a few 
days after become Flies, >. But fuch as happen 
not to be changed to‘Nymphs till autumn, con- 
tinue enclofed in their covertures till the enfuing 
{pring; when, on the fun’s nearer approach, they 
likewife become Flies: all thefe Flies’ immedi- 
ately betake themfelves to the Willows, where 
they may be fure their offspring will find conve- 
nient food and lodging. 
The Fly is of a middle fize, but of a very, de- 
licate conftra€iion. The extremity of its body 
is armed with an aculeus or fharp weapon, by 
means of which, it may open a paflage for its 
eggs into the tender tops of the Willow branches. 
It has two horns on the forepart of its head, two 
membranaceous and confiderably long wings, and 
fix long flender legs, formed very like thofe of the 
common Gnat. As to its colour, I forgot to 
obferve it particularly. Thofe Flies which I 
edge of Lincolnfhire, as large as a common red rofe, and very double. In this flate they make a very beautiful, as well as peculiar, 
appearance : and our old Englifh botanifts, who were not acquainted with this part of natural hiftory, fuppofed the tree a diftin@ fpe- 
eies, and called it Salix Rofea, the Rofe-Willow. 
- dried, 
Se ee ee col eee Se ee 
eS ee ee 
