Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions Part 5

Then is the time your barley for to mow, When Glow-worms with bright wings themselves do show."[181]

Ptinidae--Death-watch, etc.

The common name of _Death-watch_, given to the _An.o.bium tesselatum_, sufficiently announces the popular prejudice against this insect; and so great is this prejudice, that, as says an editor of Cuvier's works, the fate of many a nervous and superst.i.tious patient has been accelerated by listening, in the silence and solitude of night, to this imagined knell of his approaching dissolution.[182] The learned Sir Thomas Browne considered the superst.i.tion connected with the Death-watch of great importance, and remarks that "the man who could eradicate this error from the minds of the people would save from many a cold sweat the meticulous heads of nurses and grandmothers,"[183] for such persons are firm in the belief, that

The solemn Death-watch clicks the hour of death.

The witty Dean of St. Patrick endeavored to perform this useful task by means of ridicule. And his description, suggested, it would appear, by the old song of "A cobbler there was, and he lived in a stall," runs thus:

----A wood worm That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form, With teeth or with claws, it will bite, it will scratch; And chambermaids christen this worm a Death-watch; Because, like a watch, it always cries click.

Then woe be to those in the house that 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.

Grose, in his Antiquities, thus expresses this superst.i.tion: "The clicking of a Death-watch is an omen of the death of some one in the house wherein it is heard." Watts says: "We learn to presage approaching death in a family by ravens and little worms, which we therefore call a Death-watch."[184] Gay, in one of his Pastorals, thus alludes to it:

When Blonzelind expired,....

The solemn Death-watch click'd the hour she died.[185]

And Train,--

An' when she heard the Dead-watch tick, She raving wild did say, "I am thy murderer, my child; I see thee, come away."

And Pope,--

Misers are muck-worms, silkworms beaux, And Death watches physicians.[186]

"It will take," says Mrs. Taylor, a writer in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, "a force unknown at the present time to physiological science to eradicate the feeling of terror and apprehension felt by almost every one on hearing this small insect." She herself, an entomologist, confesses to have been very much annoyed at times by coming in contact with this "strange nuisance;" but she was cured by an overapplication.

"I went to pay a visit," says she, "to a friend in the country. The first night I fancied I should have gone mad before morning. The walls of the bed-room were papered, and from them beat, as it were, a thousand watches--tick, tick, tick! Turn which way I would, cover my head under the bedclothes to suffocation, every pulse in my body had an answering tick, tick, tick! But at last the welcome morning dawned, and early I was down in the library; even here every book, on shelf above shelf, was riotous with tick, tick, tick! At the breakfast table, beneath the plates, cups, and dishes, beat the hateful sound. In the parlor, the withdrawing-room, the kitchen, nothing but tick, tick! The house was a huge clock, with thousands of pendulums ticking from morning till night.

I was careful not to allow my great discomfort to annoy others. I argued what they could tolerate, surely I could; and in a few days habit had rendered the fearful, dreaded ticking a positive necessity."[187]

The Death-watch commences its clicking, which is nothing more than the call or signal by which the male and female are led to each other, chiefly when spring is far advanced. The sound is thus produced: Raising itself upon its hind legs, with the body somewhat inclined, it beats its head with great force and agility upon the plane of position. The prevailing number of distinct strokes which it beats in succession is from seven to nine or eleven; which circ.u.mstance, thinks Mr. Shaw, may perhaps still add, in some degree, to the ominous character which it bears. These strokes follow each other quickly, and are repeated at uncertain intervals. In old houses, where these insects abound, they may be heard in warm weather during the whole day.[188]

Baxter, in his World of Spirits, p. 203, most sensibly observes, that "there are many things that ignorance causeth mult.i.tudes to take for prodigies. I have had many discreet friends that have been affrighted with the noise called a Death-watch, 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, heard but in the heat of summer."

Our author, however, relapses immediately into his honest credulity, adding: "But he who can deny it to be a prodigy, which is recorded by Melchior Adamus, of a great and good man, who had a clock-watch that had layen in a chest many years unused; and when he lay dying, at eleven o'clock, of itself, in that chest, it struck eleven in the hearing of many."

In the British Apollo, 1710, ii. No. 86, is the following query: "Why Death-watches, crickets, and weasels do come more common against death than at any other time? _A._ We look upon all such things as idle superst.i.tions, for were any thing in them, bakers, brewers, inhabitants of old houses, &c., were in a melancholy condition."

To an inquiry, ibid. vol. ii. No. 70, concerning a Death-watch, whether you suppose it to be _a living creature_, answer is given: "It is nothing but a little worm in the wood."

"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, and, endeavoring to eat its way out, makes a noise like the movement of a watch!" Secret Memoirs of the late Mr. Duncan Campbell, 8vo. Lond. 1732, p. 61.[189]

Authors were formerly not agreed concerning the insect from which this sound of terror proceeded, some attributing it to a kind of wood-louse, others to a spider.

M. Peiguot mentions an instance where, in a public library that was but little frequented, _twenty-seven folio_ volumes were perforated in a straight line by one and the same larva of a small insect (_An.o.bium pertinax_ or _A. striatum_?) in such a manner that, on pa.s.sing a cord through the perfectly round hole made by the insect, these twenty-seven volumes could be raised at once.[190]

Bostrichidae--Typographer-beetles.

The Typographer-beetle, _Bostrichus typographus_, is so called on account of a fancied resemblance between the paths it erodes and letters. This insect bores into the fir, and feeds upon the soft inner bark; and in such vast numbers that 80,000 are sometimes found in a single tree. The ravages of this insect have long been known in Germany under the name of _Wurm trokniss_--decay caused by worms; and in the old liturgies of that country the animal itself is formally mentioned under its common appellation, _The Turk_. About the year 1665, this pest was particularly prevalent and caused incalculable mischief. In the beginning of the last century it again showed itself in the Hartz forests; it reappeared in 1757, redoubled its injuries in 1769, and arrived at its height in 1783, when the number of trees destroyed by it in the above-mentioned forests alone was calculated at a million and a half, and the whole number of insects at work at once one hundred and twenty thousand millions. The inhabitants were threatened with a total suspension of the working of their mines, for want of fuel. At this period these _Bostrichi_, when arrived at their perfect state, migrated in swarms like bees into Suabia and Franconia. At length a succession of cold and moist seasons, between the years 1784 and 1789, very sensibly diminished the numbers of this scourge. In 1790 it again appeared, however, and so late as 1796 there was great reason to fear for the few fir-trees that were left.[191]

Cantharidae--Blister-flies.

Many species of this family of insect possess strong vesicating powers, and are employed externally in medicine to produce blisters, and internally as a powerful stimulant. Taken internally, Pliny considered them a poison, and mentions the following instance of their causing death: Cossinus, a Roman of the Equestrian order, well known for his intimate friendship with the Emperor Nero, being attacked with lichen, that prince sent to Egypt for a physician to cure him; who recommended a potion prepared from Cantharides, and the patient was killed in consequence.[192] But there is no doubt, however, Pliny adds, that applied externally they are useful, in combination with juice of Taminian grapes, and the suet of a sheep or she-goat. They are extremely efficacious, too, continues Pliny, for the cure of leprosy and lichens; and act as an emmenagogue and diuretic, for which last reason Hippocrates used to prescribe them for dropsy.[193]

The vesicatory principle of the Blister-fly is called _Cantharidine_, and has been ascertained by experiment to reside more particularly in the wings than in other parts of the body. Our officinal insect is the _Cantharis vesicatoria_; and since the princ.i.p.al supply is from Spain, we call them commonly _Spanish-flies_. In Italy, the _Mylabris cichorii_, a native of the south of Europe, is used; and the _M.

pustulata_, a native of China, is used by the Chinese, who also export it to Brazil, where it is the only species employed. In India also a species of _Meloe_ is used,[194] possessing all the properties of the Spanish-fly.

At one time in Germany, the genus Meloe--Oil-beetles (so called from their emitting from the joints of the legs an oily yellowish liquor, when alarmed)--were extolled as a specific against hydrophobia; and the oil which is expressed from them is used in Sweden, with great success, in the cure of rheumatism, by anointing the affected part.[195] Dr.

James thus enumerates the medicinal virtues of these insects: "The Oil-beetle (_Scarabaeus unctuosus_ of Schroder) is much of the nature of Cantharides, forces urine and blood, and is of extraordinary efficacy against the bite of a mad dog. Taken in powder, it cures the vari, or wandering gout, as we are a.s.sured by Wierus. The liquor is, by some, esteemed of efficacy in wounds; it is an ingredient also in plaisters for the pestilential bubo and carbuncle, and in antidotes; an oil is prepared by infusion of the living animals in common oil, which some use instead of oil of Scorpions."[196] In some parts of Spain, they are mingled with the Cantharides, for the same purposes as these latter insects. Farriers also employed, in some cases, oil in which these insects had been macerated.[197]

Pliny tells us that Cato of Utica was one time reproached for selling poison, because when disposing of a royal property by auction, he sold a quant.i.ty of Cantharides, at the price of sixty thousand sesterces.[198]

The natives of Guiana and Jamaica make ear-rings and other ornaments of the elytra, or wing-coverings, of the _Cantharis maxima_; the brilliant metallic colors of which beetles, says Sloane, sparkle with an extraordinary l.u.s.tre, when worn by the Indians dancing in the sun.[199]

Zoroaster says, that "Cantharides" will not hurt the vines, if you macerate some in oil, and apply it to the whetstone on which you are going to set your pruning-knives.[200]

Cantharides are comparatively rare in Germany; yet we are told in the German Ephemerides, says Brookes, that in June, 1667, there were found about the town of Heldeshiem, such a great number of them, that they covered all the willow-trees. Likewise that in May, 1685, when the sky was serene and the weather mild, a great number of Cantharides were seen to settle upon a privet-tree, and devour all the leaves; but they did not meddle with the flowers. We are also told that the country people expect the return of these insects every seven years. It is very certain, adds Brookes, that such a number of these insects have been together in the air, that they appeared like swarms of bees; and that they have so disagreeable smell, that it may be perceived a great way off, especially about sunset, though they are not seen at that time.

This bad smell is a guide for those who make it their business to catch them.[201]

Tenebrionidae--Meal-worms.

The larvae of the _Tenebrio molitor_, commonly called Meal-worms, which are found in carious wood, are bred by bird-fanciers, to feed nightingales, and const.i.tute the only bait by which these shy birds can be taken: a fact the more curious when it is considered that the nightingale, in a state of nature, can seldom or never see these larvae.

They are also used to feed cameleons which are exhibited.[202]

Blapsidae--Church-yard beetle, etc.

We learn from Linnaeus that in Sweden the appearance of the Church-yard beetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, produces the most violent alarm and trepidation among the people, who, on account of its black hue and strange aspect, regard it as the messenger of pestilence and death.

Hence is this insect called _mortisaga_--the prophesier of death.[203]

A common species in Egypt, the _Blaps sulcata_, is made into a preparation which the Egyptian women eat with the view of acquiring what they esteem a proper degree of plumpness! The beetle they broil and mash up in clarified b.u.t.ter; then add honey, oil of sesame, and a variety of aromatics and spices pounded together.[204] Fabricius reports that the Turkish women also eat this insect, cooked with b.u.t.ter, to make them fat. He also tells us that they use it in Egypt and the Levant, as a remedy for pains and maladies in the ears, and against the bite of scorpions.[205] Carsten Niebuhr also mentions this curious practice of the women of Turkey, and adds, the women of Arabia likewise make use of these insects for the same purpose, taking three of them, every morning and evening, fried in b.u.t.ter.[206]

The Blatta mentioned by Pliny is evidently, from his description, the Church-yard beetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, instead of the insect we now call by that name--the c.o.c.kroach: and may very properly be here introduced. "There is kind of fattinesse," says this author in the words of his translator, Philemon Holland, "to bee found in the Flie or insect called Blatta, when the head is plucked off, which, if it be punned and mixed with Oile of Roses, is (as they say) wonderful good for the ears: but the wooll wherein this medicine is enwrapped, and which is put into the ears, must not long tarrie there, but within a little while drawne forth againe; for the said fat will very soone get life and prove a grub or little worme. Some writers there be who affirme, that two or three of these flies called Blattae sodden in oile, make a soveraigne medicine to cure the eares, and if they be stamped and spread upon a linen rag and so applied, they will heale the eares, if they be hurt by any bruise or contusion: Certes this is but a nastie and ill-favoured vermine, howbeit in regard of the manifold and admirable properties which naturally it hath, as also of the industrie of our auncestours in searching out the nature of it, I am moved to write thereof at large and to the full in this place. For they have described many kinds of them. In the first place, some of them be soft and tender, which being sodden in oile, they have proved by experience to be of great efficacie in fetching off werts, if they be annointed therewith. A second sort there is, which they call Mylcon, because ordinarily it haunteth about mils and bake-houses, and there breedeth: these by the report of _Musa_ and _Picton_, two famous Physicians, being bruised (after their heads were gone) and applied to a bodie infected with the leprosie, cured the same persitely. They of a third kind, besides that they bee otherwise ill-favoured ynough, carrie a loathsome and odious smell with them: they are sharp rumped and pin b.u.t.tockt also; howbeit, being incorporat with the oile of pitch called p.i.s.selaeon, they have healed those ulcers which were thought _nunquam sana_, and incurable. Also within one and twenty daies after this plastre laid too, it hath been knowne to cure the swelling wens called the King's evil: the botches or biles named Pani, wounds, contusions, bruises, morimals, scabs, and fellons: but then their feet and wings were plucked off and cast away. I make no doubt or question, but that some of us are so daintie and fine-eared, that our stomacke riseth at the hearing onely of such medicines: and yet I a.s.sure you, Diodorus, a renowned Physician, reporteth, that he has given these foure flies inwardly with rozin and honey, for the jaundise, and to those that were so streight-winded that they could not draw their breath but sitting upright. See what libertie and power over us have these Physicians, who to practise and trie conclusions upon our bodies, may exhibit unto their patients, what they list, be it never so homely, so it goe under the name of a medicine."[207]

The following extraordinary case of insects introduced into the human stomach, which is of rare occurrence, has been completely authenticated, both by medical men and competent naturalists. It was first published by Dr. Pickells, of Cork, in the Dublin Transactions.[208]

Mary Riordan, aged 28, had been much affected by the death of her mother, and at one of her many visits to the grave seems to have partially lost her senses, having been found lying there on the morning of a winter's day, and having been exposed to heavy rain during the night. It appears that when she was about fifteen, two popular Catholic priests had died, and she was told by some old woman, that if she would drink daily, for a certain time, a quant.i.ty of water, mixed with clay taken from their graves, she would be forever secure from disease and sin. So following this absurd and disgusting prescription, she took from time to time large quant.i.ties of the draught; and, some time afterward, being affected with a burning pain in the stomach (_cardialgia_), she began to eat large pieces of chalk, which she sometimes also mixed with water and drank. In all these draughts, it is most probable, she swallowed the eggs of the enormous progenies of apterous, dipterous, and coleopterous insects, which she for several years continued to throw up alive and moving. Dr. Pickells a.s.serts that altogether he himself saw nearly 2000 of these larvae, and that there were many he did not see, for, to avoid publicity, she herself destroyed a great number, and many, too, escaped immediately by running into holes in the floor. Of this incredible number, the greatest proportion were larvae of the Church-yard beetle, _Blaps mortisaga_, and of a dipterous insect, an _Ascarides_; and two were specimens of the Meal-worm--the larvae of the Darkling--_Tenebrio molitor_. It may be interesting to learn that, by means of turpentine in large doses, this unfortunate woman was at length entirely rid of her pests.[209]

Curculionidae--Weevils.

At Rio Janeiro, the brilliant Diamond-beetle, _Eutimis n.o.bilis_, is in great request for brooches for gentlemen, and ten piasters are often paid for a single specimen. In this city many owners send their slaves out to catch insects, so that now the rarest and most brilliant species are to be had at a comparatively trifling sum. Each of these slaves, when he has attained to some adroitness in this operation, may, on a fine day, catch in the vicinity of the city as many as five or six hundred beetles. So this trade is considered there very lucrative, since six milresis (four rix dollars, or about fourteen shillings) are paid for the hundred. For these splendid insects there is a general demand; and their wing-cases are now sought for the purpose of adorning the ladies of Europe--a fashion, it is said, which threatens the entire extinction of this beautiful tribe.[210]

Messrs. Kidder and Fletcher tell us that in Brazil "a commerce is carried on in artificial flowers made from beetles' wings, fish-scales, sea-sh.e.l.ls, and feathers, which attract the attention of every visitor.