Why is the great water-beetle probably the most ferocious creature of the pool?

Because it has great muscular power, a thick and horny case over its body, eyes large enough to see all the creatures about it, and powerful mandibles to seize and reduce them to fragments. It riots the polyphemus of the pool; and having thinned its herd in one place, is supplied with wings to effect a removal to a fold better furnished. In the larva state, it is almost equally destructive: it swims admirably-its hinder legs are long and brawny-beside being aided by a fringe of hairs, so that they are powerful oars to propel the body with celerity and ease.—Knapp.

Why is the oil-beetle so called?

Because of the oily-looking fluid which oozes from it when seized or alarmed. Another beetle is popularly called bloody-nosed, from its ejecting a red fluid from its mouth when caught: it is a very slow walker, but has an admirable contrivance for taking hold of trailing plants, on which it feeds. This consists of cushions of slightly concave thick soft hair, which both adheres by its points, and also produces somewhat of a vacuum, which enables it to walk as easily with its head perpendicularly downwards as upwards. Why is the stag-beetle so called?

Because the male has forceps on the head resembling the antlers of the stag.

Why has the rhinoceros-beetle grub been selected as a specimen of moulting?

Because it is not the external skin only that these grubs cast, like serpents; but the throat, and part of the stomach, and even the inward surface of the great gut change their skin at the same time. Yet this is not the whole of these wonders; for, at the same time, some hundreds of breathing pipes, within the body of the grub, cast also each its delicate and tender skin. -Swammerdam.

DERMESTES.

Why is a species of Dermestes so formidable to the pine forests of Germany?

Because it lodges in such numbers in the alburnum of the pine, that 80,000 of its larvæ have been counted in a tree of moderate size. This affection causes the tree to perish from the summit downwards, its leaves turn red, it loses its resin, and is rendered nearly unfit even for making charcoal, much less timber or firewood. This, or a similar insect, has destroyed some of the finest trees in St. James's and the Green Parks, London, although the cause was, for some time, totally unsuspected.-Blumenbach.

THE DEATH-WATCH.

Why is a certain insect called the Death-Watch? Because of its clicking noise, chiefly in the latter end of spring, which may be considered analogous to the call of birds. This is caused by beating on hard substances with the shield or fore-part of its head. The general number of successive distinct strokes is from seven to nine, or eleven. These are given in pretty quick succession, and are repeated at uncertain intervals. In old houses, where the insects are numerous, they may be heard, if the weather be warm, almost every hour in the day. In beating, the insect raises itself upon its hinder legs, and, with the body somewhat inclined, beats its head, with great force and agility, against the place on which it stands. This insect, which is the real death-watch of the vulgar, must not be confounded with a minuter insect, not much unlike a louse, which makes a ticking noise like a watch; but, instead of beating at intervals, it continues its noise for a considerable length of time without intermission. This latter insect belongs to a very different tribe. It is usually found in old wood, decayed furniture, museums, and neglected books.* Phi

Mr. Carpenter; mentioned at p. 223.

losophers and wits have written on the habits of this insect. That grave and good man, Sir Thomas Browne, who wrote a book on Vulgar Errors, remarks, with great seriousness, that the man "who could eradicate this error from the minds of the people, might prevent the fearful passions of the heart, and many cold sweats taking place in grandmothers and nurses." Baxter, in his World of Spirits, observes: "There are many things that ignorance causeth multitudes to take for prodigies. I have had many discreet friends that have been affrighted with the noise called a DeathWatch; whereas, I have since, near three years ago, oft found, by trial, that it is a noise made upon paper by a little, nimble, running worm, just like a louse, but whiter and quicker; and it is, most usually, behind a paper pasted to a wall, especially to wainscot; and it is rarely if ever met with but in the heat of summer."-In the British Apollo, 1710, is the following query: "Why Death-Watches, Crickets, and Weasels do come more common against death than any other time? A. We look upon all such things as idle superstitions; for, were any thing in them, bakers, brewers, inhabitants of old houses, &c. were in a melancholy condition." Duncan Campbell, in his Secret Memoirs, 1732, says, "How many people have I seen in the most terrible palpitations, for months together, expecting every hour the approach of some calamity, only by a little worm, which breeds in old wainscot, &c. endeavouring to eat its way out, makes a noise like the movement of a watch." Grose also tells us that "the clicking of a death-watch is an omen of the death of some one in the house wherein it is heard." Swift, on the other hand, has let fly the shafts of satire, as well as furnished a charm to avert the omen, as follows:

"A wood-worm,

That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form,
With teeth, or with claws, it will bite or will scratch;
And chambermaids christen this worm a Death-Watch,

Because, like a watch, it always cries click ;
Then wo be to those in the house who are sick :
For, sure as a gun, they will give up the ghost,

If the maggot cries click, when it scratches the post.
But a kettle of scalding hot water injected,

Infallibly cures the timber affected;

The omen is broken, the danger is over,

The maggot will die, and the sick will recover."

What an amusing treatise could Swift have written on the dry-rot: his charm, in this instance, is even more effectual than the cauldron in Macbeth.

Gay, too, in a pastoral dirge, says:

"The wether's bell,

Before the drooping flock, toll'd forth her knell;

The solemn death-watch 'click'd the hour she died."

WATER-FLEA.

Why is the water-flea so called?

Because his abode is in quiet, still water; though, in mild weather, we see him gamboling upon the surface of the sheltered pool, in his shining black jacket. Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the winter in the mud at the bottom of the pond, he awakens in the spring, rises to the surface, and commences his summer sports. They associate in small parties of ten or a dozen, near the bank, where some little projection forms a bay, or renders the water particularly tranquil; and here they will encircle round each other without contention, each in his sphere, and with no apparent object, from morning until night, with great sprightliness and animation; and so lightly do they move on the fluid, as to form only some faint and transient circles on its surface.-Knapp.

LADY-BIRD.

Why is the lady-bird so beneficial to the gardener and husbandman?

Because all the species, both in the larva and the perfect state, feed exclusively on aphides, and never touch vegetable substances. The eggs are usually

placed in a group of twenty or more upon a leaf, where aphides abound; and when the young are hatched, they find themselves in the midst of their prey.-J. Rennie.

This, as well as some species of Meloë, has been recommended as a remedy for the tooth-ache.-Blumenbach.

THE WEEVIL.

Why is the larva of the weevil prized in India? Because it feeds on the pith of sago, and is eaten itself as a delicacy.

Why are weevils so destructive to wheat in granaries? Because of their fecundity, and the extraordinary manner in which they are produced. Thus, the female perforates a grain of wheat or barley with the jaws placed at the end of her long proboscis, and deposits a single egg within it; and when the young grub is excluded from the egg, it thus finds provided a fit dwelling and a store of proper food. The parent insect thus deposits its eggs in five or six grains every day, for several successive days. In about seven days' time, the larva is excluded from the egg, and, after feeding its accustomed time, changes into the chrysalis within the grain, and, in about a fortnight afterwards, comes forth a perfect weevil. The parent insect, after depositing its eggs in situations where there would be a supply for the sustenance of its offspring, does not die, but, according to Leuwenhoek, they live throughout the summer and winter; and they feed voraciously on the interior of the grain, both in the larva and perfect insect state. Kirby states, that a single pair of these insects may, in one year, produce above 6,000 descendants.

Why is it recommended to establish a colony of ants near a granary attacked as above? Because the ants being continually engaged in