FOOTNOTES:
——Dant utile lignum
Navigiis Pinos, domibus Cedrosque, Cupressosque:
Hinc radios trivere Rotis, hinc tympana plaustris
Agricolæ, & pandas ratibus posuere carinas.
Viminibus Salices fœcundæ, frondibus Ulmi;
At Myrtus validis hastilibus, & bona bello,
Cornus; Ityræos Taxi torquentur in arcus.
Nec Tiliæ leves, aut torno rasile Buxum,
Non formam accipiunt, ferroque cavantur acuto:
Necnon & torrentum undam levis innatat Alnus
Missa Pado: necnon & apes examina condunt
Corticibusque cavis, vitiosæque Ilicis alveo.
Virg. Georg. l. 2. carm. 442.
[] See [Chap. 15.] and [Book VIII. Chap. 6.]
[c] Many of the Vespæ-Ichneumones are remarkable enough for their Nidification and Provision for their Young. Those that build in Earth (who commonly have golden and black Rings round their Alvi) having lined the little Cells, they have perforated, lay therein their Eggs, and then carry into them Maggots from the Leaves of Trees, and seal them up close and neatly. And another Ichneumon, more of the Vespa than Musca-Ichneumon Kind (having a little Sting in its Tail, of a black Colour) gave me the Pleasure, one Summer, of seeing it build its Nest in a little Hole in my Study-Window. This Cell was coated about with an odoriferous, resinous Gum, collected, I suppose, from some Fir-Trees near; after which it laid two Eggs (I think the Number was) and then carried in divers Maggots, some bigger than it self. These it very sagaciously sealed close up into the Nest, leaving them there doubtless, partly to assist the Incubation; and especially for Food to the future Young when hatched.
Of this Artifice of these Ichneumons, Aristotle himself takes Notice, (but I believe he was scarce aware of the Eggs sealed up with the Spiders). Ὁι δὲ Σφῆκες Ιχνεύμονες καλούμενοι, &c. As to the Vespæ, called Ichneumones, (less than others) they kill Spiders, and carry them into their Holes, and having sealed them up with Dirt, they therein hatch, and produce those of the same Kind. Hist. Anim. l. 5. c. 20.
To what hath been said about these Ichneumon Wasps, I shall add one Observation more, concerning the providential Structure of their Mouth in every of their Tribes, viz. their Jaws are not only very strong, but nicely sized, curved and placed for gnawing and scraping those compleat little Holes they perforate in Earth, Wood, yea in Stone it self.
[d] Tully having spoken of the Care of some Animals towards their Young, by which they are nursed and brought up, saith, Accedit etiam ad nonnulloram animantium, & earum rerum quas terra gignit, conservationem, & salutem, hominum etiam solertia & diligentia. Nam multæ & pecudes, & stirpes sunt, quæ fine procuratione hominum salvæ esse non possunt. Cic. de Nat. Deor. l. 2. c. 52.
[e] Prov. xxx. 26. The Conies are but a feeble Folk, yet make they their Houses in the Rocks.
[f] See [Note (l).]
[g] It is a notable Instinct which Ol. Magnus tells of the Galli Sylvestres in his Northern Country, to secure themselves against the Cold and Storms of the Winter. Cùm nives instar collium terræ superficiem ubique cooperiunt, ramosque arborum diutiùs deprimunt & condensant, certos fructus Betulæ arboris——in formâ longi Piperis vorant, & glutiunt indigestos; idque tantâ aviditate, ac quantitate, ut repletum guttur toto corpore majus appareat. Deinde partitis agminibus sese inter medios nivium colles immergunt, præfortim in Jan. Febr. Martio, quando nives ut turbines, typhones, vel tempestates gravissimæ è nubibus descendunt. Cumque coopertæ sunt, certis hebdomadis cibo in gutture collecto, egesto, & resumpto vivunt. Venatorum canibus non produntur.——Quod si præsentiunt nivem imminere majorem, prædicto fructu, iterum devorato, aliud domicilium captant, in eoque manent usque ad sinem Martii, &c. Ol. Mag. Hist. l. 19. c. 33.
[h] It is a very odd Story (which I rather mention for the Reader’s Diversion, than for its Truth) which Dr. Lud. de Beaufort relates, Vir fide dignus narravit mihi, quod cùm semel, animi gratiâ, nidum aviculæ ligno obturâsset, seque occultâsset, cupidus videndi, quid in tali occasione præstaret; illa cùm frustra sæpiùs tentâsset rostro illud auferre, casus admodum impatiens, abiit, & post aliquod temporis spatium reversa est, rostro gerens plantulam, quâ obturamento applicatâ, paulò post, illud veluti telum eripuit tantâ vi, ut dispersa impetu herbula, ac occasionem ipsi, ab aviculâ ejus virtutem discendi, præripuerit. Cosmop. divina, Sect. 5. C. 1. Had he told us what the Plant was, we might have given better Credit to this Story.
[] Of the Subtilty of Birds in Nidification, see Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 33.
[k] Among many Instances that might be given of this Subtilty of birds, and other Creatures, that of the long-tailed Titmouse deserves Observation, who with great Art builds her Nest with Mosses, Hair, and the Webs of Spiders, cast out from them when they take their Flight (see [Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (e)]) with which the other Materials are strongly tied together. Having neatly built, and covered her Nest with these Materials without; she thatcheth it on the top with the Muscus arboreus ramosus, or such like broad, whitish Moss, to keep out Rain, and to dodge the Spectator’s Eye; and within she lineth it with a great Number of soft Feathers; so many, that I confess I could not but admire how so small a Room could hold them, especially that they could be laid so close and handsomely together, to afford sufficient Room for a Bird with so long a Tail, and so numerous an Issue as this Bird commonly hath, which Mr. Ray saith (Synops. Method. Avium, p. 74.) Ova inter omnes aviculas numerosissima ponit. See more of the Nest of this Bird, from Aldrovand. in Willugh. Ornith. p. 243.
[l] The Nest of the Guira tangeima, the icterus minor, and the Jupujuba, or whatever other Name the American Hang-Nests may be called by, are of this Kind. Of which see Willughby’s Ornith. Lib. 2. Chap. 5. Sect. 12, 13. Also Dr. Grew’s Museum Reg. Soc. Part 1. Sect. 4. Chap. 4. These Nests I have divers Times seen, particularly in great Perfection in our R. S. Repository, and in the noble and well-furnished Museum of my often-commended Friend Sir Hans Sloane; and at the same Time I could not but admire at the neat Mechanism of them, and the Sagacity of the Bird, in hanging them on the Twigs of Trees, to secure their Eggs and Young from the Apes.
[m] I mention Trees, because I have seen Bees gather the Gum of Fir-Trees, which at the same Time gave me the Pleasure of seeing their way of loading their Thighs therewith; performed with great Art and Dexterity.
[n] Wasps, at their first Coming, may be observ’d to frequent Posts, Boards, and other Wood that is dry and sound; but never any that is rotten. There they may be heard to scrape and gnaw; and what they so gnaw off, they heap close together between their Chin and Fore-Legs, until they have gotten enough for a Burden, which they then carry away in their Mouths, to make their Cells with.
[o] Circular Cells would have been the most capacious; but this would by no Means have been a convenient Figure, by Reason much of the Room would have been taken up by Vacancies between the Circles; therefore it was necessary to make Use of some of the rectilinear Figures. Among which only three could be of Use; of which Pappus Alexandrin. thus discourseth; Cùm igitur tres figuræ sunt, quæ per seipsas locum circa idem punctum consistentem replere possunt, Triangulum seil. Quadratum & Hexagonum, Apes illam quæ ex pluribus angulis constat sapienter delegerunt, utpote suspicantes eam plus mellis capere quàm utramvis reliquarum. At Apes quidem illud tantùm quod ipsis utile est cognoscunt, viz. Hexagonum Quadrato & Triangulo esse majus & plus Mellis capere posse, nimirum æquali materiâ in constructionem uniuscujusque consumptâ. Nos verò qui plus sapientiæ quàm Apes habere profitemur, aliquid etiam magìs insigne investigabimus. Collect. Math. l. 5.
[p] See before [Note (c).]
[] Among many Examples, the Legs and Feet of the Mole-Cricket, (Gryllotalpa,) are very remarkable. The Fore-Legs are very brawny and strong; and the Feet armed each with four flat strong Claws, together with a small Lamina, with two larger Claws, and a third with two little Claws: Which Lamina is joynted to the Bottom of the Foot, to be extended, to make the Foot wider, or withdrawn within the Foot. These Feet are placed to scratch somewhat sideways as well as downward, after the Manner of Moles Feet; and they are very like them also in Figure.
Somewhat of this Nature, Swammerdam observes of the Worms of the Ephemeron. To this Purpose, [to dig their Cells,] the wise Creator hath furnish’d them, (saith he,) with fit Members. For, besides that their two Fore-Legs are formed somewhat like those of the ordinary Moles, or Gryllotalpa; he hath also furnish’d them with two toothy Cheeks, somewhat like the Sheers of Lobsters, which serve them more readily to bore the Clay. Swammerdam’s Ephem. Vit. Publish’d by Dr. Tyson, Chap. 3.
[t] See the before-cited [Note (c).]
[] They are for the most Part, some of the Phalænæ-Tribe, which inhabit the tunnelled, convolved Leaves, that we meet with on Vegetables in the Spring and Summer. And it is a somewhat wonderful Artifice, how so small and weak a Creature, as one of those newly-hatch’d Maggots, (for doubtless it is they, not the Parent-Animal, because she emits no Web, nor hath any tectrine Art,) can be able to convolve the stubborn Leaf, and then bind it in that neat round Form, with the Thread or Web it weaves from its own Body; with which it commonly lines the convolved Leaf, and stops up the two Ends, to prevent its own falling out; and Earwigs, and other noxious Animals getting in.
[w] The several Sorts of Phryganea, or Cadews, in their Nympha, or Maggot-state, thus house themselves; one Sort in Straws, call’d from thence Straw-Worms; others in two or more Sticks, laid parallel to one another, creeping at the Bottom of Brooks; others with a small Bundle of Pieces of Rushes, Duck-weed, Sticks, &c. glu’d together, where-with they float on the Top, and can row themselves therein about the Waters, with the Help of their Feet: Both these are call’d Cob-bait. Divers other Sorts there are, which the Reader may see a Summary of, from Mr Willughby, in Raii Method. Insect. p. 12. together with a good, though very brief Description of the Papilionaceous Fly, that comes from the Cod-bait Cadew. It is a notable architectonick Faculty, which all the Variety of these Animals have, to gather such Bodies as are fittest for their Purpose, and then to glue them together; some to be heavier than Water, that the Animal may remain at the Bottom, where its Food is; (for which Purpose they use Stones, together with Sticks, Rushes, &c.) and some to be lighter than Water, to float on the Top, and gather its Food from thence. These little Houses look coarse and shew no great Artifice outwardly; but are well tunnelled, and made within with a hard tough Paste; into which the hinder Part of the Maggot is so fix’d, that it can draw its Cell after it any where, without Danger of leaving it behind; as also thrust its Body out, to reach what it wanteth; or withdraw it into its Cell, to guard it against Harms.
[x] Having mention’d the Spider, I shall take this Occasion, (although it be out of the Way,) to give an Instance of the Poyson of some of them. Scaliger Exerc. 186. relates, That in Gascony, his Country, there are Spiders of that virulency, that if a Man treads upon them, to crush them, their Poyson will pass through the very Soles of his Shoe. Boyl. Subtil. of Effluv. c. 4.
Mr. Leewenhoek put a Frog and a Spider together into a Glass, and having made the Spider sting the Frog divers Times, the Frog dy’d in about an Hour’s Time. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 272.
In the same Transaction, is a curious Account of the Manner how Spiders lay, and guard their eggs, viz. they emit them not out of the hindermost Part of the Body, but under the upper Part of her Belly, near the Hind-Legs, &c. Also there is an Account of the Parts from which they emit their Webs, and divers other Things worth Observation, with Cuts illustrating the Whole.
But in Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 22. Dr. Nath. Fairfax, from S. Redi, and his own Observations, thinks Spiders not venomous; several Persons, as well as Birds, swallowing them without Hurt: Which I my self have known in a Person of Learning, who was advis’d to take them medicinally at first, and would at any Time swallow them, affirming them to be sweet, and well tasted: And not only innocuous, but they are very salutiferous too, in some of the most stubborn Diseases, if the pleasant Story in Mouffet be true; of a rich London Matron, cur’d of a desperate Tympany, by a certain Debauchee, that hearing of her Case, and that she was given over by the Doctors, went to her, pretending to be a Physician, and confidently affirming he would cure her; which she being willing to believe, agrees with him for so much Money, one half to be paid down, the other upon Cure. Upon which he gives her a Spider, promising her Cure in three Days. Upon which, (not doubting but that he had poison’d her, and fearing he might be call’d to account for it,) he gets out of Town as fast as he could. But instead of being poison’d, she soon recover’d. After some Months, the Quack gets privately to Town, when he thought the Bustle might be over; and enquiring how his Patient did, was inform’d of her Cure; and thereupon visiting her, and making an Excuse for his Absence, he receiv’d his Pay with great Applause and Thanks. Mouff. Insect. l. 2. c. 15.
Having said so much of Spiders, I might here add their Flight: But of this, see [Book VIII. Chap. 4. Note (e).]
CHAP. XIV.
Of Animals Self-Preservation.
Having thus consider’d the Food, Cloathing, and Houses of Animals; let us in this Chapter take a Glance of another excellent Provision, the wise Creator hath made for the Good of the animal World; and that is, the Methods which all Animals naturally take for their Self-Preservation and Safety. And here it is remarkable, (as in the Cases before,) that Man, who is endow’d with Reason, is born without Armature, and is destitute of many Powers, which irrational Creatures have in a much higher Degree than he, by Reason he can make himself Arms to defend himself, can contrive Methods for his own Guard and Safety, can many Ways annoy his Enemy, and stave off the Harms of noxious Creatures.
But for others, who are destitute of this super-eminent Faculty; they are some Way or other provided with sufficient Guard[a], proportionate to their Place of Abode, the Dangers they are like to incur there[]; and in a Word, to their greatest Occasions, and Need of Security. Accordingly, some are sufficiently guarded against all common Dangers, by their natural Cloathing, by their Armature of Shells, or such like hard, and impregnable Covering of their Body[c]. Others destitute of this Guard, are armed, some with Horns[d], some with sharp Quills and Prickles[e], some with Claws, some with Stings[f]; some can shift and change their Colours[g]; some can make their Escape by the Help of their Wings, and others by the Swiftness of their Feet; some can screen themselves by diving in the Waters, others by tinging and disordering the Waters[h], can make their Escape; and some can guard their Bodies, even in the very Flames, by the Ejection of the Juice of their Bodies[]; and some by their accurate Smell, Sight or Hearing, can foresee Dangers[k]; others by their natural Craft, can prevent or escape them[l]; others by their Uncouth Noise[m]; by the horrid Aspect, and ugly Gesticulations of their Body[n]; and some even by the Power of their Excrements, and their Stink[o], can annoy their Enemy, and secure themselves; and against some[p], the divine Providence it self hath provided a Guard.
By such Shifts and Means as these, a sufficient Guard is ministred to every Species of Animals, in its proper respective Place; abundantly enough to secure the Species from Destruction, and to keep up that Balance, which I have formerly shew’d, is in the World among every, and all the Species of Animals; but yet not enough to secure Individuals, from becoming a Prey to Man, or to other Creatures, as their Necessities of Life require. To which Purpose, the natural Sagacity and Craft of the one intrapping[q], and captivating, being in some Measure equivalent to that of the other in evading, is as excellent a Means for the maintaining the one, as preserving the other; and if well consider’d, argues the Contrivance of the infinitely wise Creator and Preserver of the World.