WOODLOUSE. 
the ground; they seldom issue from their re- 
treats except at night or in rainy weather; they 
move rather slowly, except when alarmed, but 
are capable of exerting some degree of nimble- 
ness; and they feed on yegetable substances and 
animal matters, and are great pests in gardens. 
Their ova are enclosed in a pectoral pouch; and 
their young have only twelve feet, and have one 
thoracic segment less than the adults. They are 
known in France under the strange name of pigs 
of St. Anthony; and they had long an abomina- 
ble reputation among some medical men, and 
still have it among some of the peasantry, as an 
internal remedy for some diseases,—being boiled 
in milk, and supposed to possess aperient, diu- 
retic, and absorbent properties. 
The common woodlouse, Onisews asellus, is 
about half an inch long and a quarter of an inch 
broad, of an oval shape, and of a dark mouse co- 
lour. Round its outer edge are eight or nine 
spots of a paler colour; and its back is armed 
with a strong bright shell. If unable to escape 
quickly when touched, it usually rolls itself up 
in a ball, and appears lifeless, till the apparent 
danger is over. Its eggs are very numerous, 
very minute, shining, and of a very pale yellowish 
white colour; and they appear to be hatched in 
a few hours after deposition. The young have a 
pale colour, and though very small, begin to 
crawl slowly about; and in a day or two they 
become very active, and change to a pale reddish 
brown colour. When half grown, they assume the 
same colour as the parents, but without the 
markings on the back; they can then run very 
nimbly, and are remarkably voracious, devouring 
everything eatable which comes in their way; 
and as they advance in growth, they cast their 
skins, after the manner of spiders. When full 
grown, they become heavy and less active; and 
appear to require less food than during their 
growth. This insect is very injurious, and where 
very prevalent is not readily got ridof. It shuns 
light, particularly that of the sun; and commits 
its depredations during the night. It cautiously 
creeps from its place of retreat, and feeds on 
leaves, flowers, fruits, or whatever else it can 
find; and if not wholly destroying any plants or 
fruits which it attacks, it so injures and disfigures 
them, that they with difficulty recover. 
The methods of keeping down woodlice and 
destroying them are many; and only some of 
the most obvious and. of the most efficient need 
be mentioned. A live toad kept in a house will 
keep it free from them. The newt feeds on them, 
and might be advantageously encouraged in any 
garden frames which they infest. The beetle trap 
effectually destroys them. Boiling water poured 
into any crevices or cracks of walls or buildings 
where they are known to have their retreats, will 
destroy as many of them as it can reach. Loose 
stuffings of hay or dry moss in a flower-pot or 
any similar vessel, placed near their retreats, will 
decoy them by way of shelter; and, every morn- 
i 
WOODPECKER. 
ing, such as betake themselves to the vessel may 
be emptied out and destroyed. Longitudinal sec- 
tions or halves of old bean stalks or of cabbage 
stalks, nine inches or so in length, laid in differ- 
ent parts of the house or garden which they fre- 
quent, will also entice them for shelter,and gather 
a collection of them for every morning’s clear- 
ance. A little bit of old cheese, pulverized with 
a grater, spread in a vessel, sprinkled over with 
a little white sugar, and covered with hay or 
dried moss, will greatly add to the power of the 
decoy, and attract large assemblages of them for 
destruction. Slices of bryony root, apple, pear, 
potato, or any other succulent vegetable sub- 
stance most attractive to them, put into pans or 
feeders, such as are generally used under straw- 
berry pots, and covered with hay or dried moss, 
act as excellent decoys, and may be used to as- 
semble the frequenters of beds, frames, and all 
other parts of the garden for a destructive bath 
in boiling water. Several methods of poisoning 
with arsenic are practised,—and resemble these 
decoy methods, with the simple difference that 
they kill the woodlice as well as decoy them; but 
they merely save the trouble of getting up some 
boiling water or other ready means of destruc- 
tion in the mornings, and are therefore not worth 
the additional pains and great danger of using 
the arsenic. 
WOODPECKER,—scientifically Prcus. A genus 
of birds of the scansorial or climbing order. They 
are well characterised by their long straight an- 
gular bill, the end of which is compressed into a 
wedge, and fitted for splitting the bark of atrees, 
—hy their slender tongue, armed near the tip 
with spines that curve backwards, which, by the 
action of the elastic horns of the hyoid bone, can 
be thrust far out of the bill,—and by their tail, | 
composed of ten quills with stiff and elastic stems, 
whichactsasa prop in supporting them while they 
are climbing. They are very eminent climbers, 
wandering over trees in every direction, striking 
the bark off with their bills, and insinuating their 
long tongues into its cracks and crevices to obtain 
the larvee of insects, on which they feed. This 
tongue, besides its armour, is constantly mois- 
tened with a viscid fluid, secreted by large sali- 
vary glands; it is drawn back into the bill by 
two muscles, which are wound round the trachea 
like ribands; and while it is in this state of re- 
traction, the horns of the hyoid bone ascend un- 
der the skin and round the head, as far as the 
superior base of the bill, and the sheath of the 
tongue is doubled into folds in the bottom of the 
throat. They have an almost membranous sto- 
mach, and have no ceca, and yet they eat fruit. 
They are timid and wary; and pass most of their 
time in solitude ; but during the pairing season, 
the males may often be heard summoning the fe- 
males by loud and rapid tapping ona dry branch. 
The nests are built annually in holes of trees; 
and the eggs are brooded over alternately by the 
male and the female. Six or seven species in- 
