CHAP. 41. (35.)—MOTHS, CANTHARIDES, GNATS—AN INSECT THAT BREEDS IN THE SNOW.
Dust, too, is productive of worms[152] in wools and cloths, and this more especially if a spider should happen to be enclosed in them: for, being sensible of thirst, it sucks up all the moisture, and thereby increases the dryness of the material. These will breed in paper also. There is one kind which carries with it its husk, in the same manner as the snail, only that the feet are to be seen. If deprived of it, it does not survive; and when it is fully developed, the insect becomes a chrysalis. The wild fig-tree produces gnats,[153] known as “ficarii;” and the little grubs of the fig-tree, the pear-tree, the pine, the wild rose, and the common rose produce cantharides,[154] when fully developed. These insects, which are venomous, carry with them their antidote; for their wings are useful in medicine,[155] while the rest of the body is deadly. Again, liquids turned sour will produce other kinds of gnats, and white grubs are to be found in snow that has lain long on the ground, while those that lie above are of a reddish[156] colour—indeed, the snow itself becomes red after it has lain some time on the ground. These grubs are covered with a sort of hair, are of a rather large size, and in a state of torpor.
CHAP. 42. (36.)—AN ANIMAL FOUND IN FIRE—THE PYRALLIS OR PYRAUSTA.
That element, also, which is so destructive to matter, produces certain animals; for in the copper-smelting furnaces of Cyprus, in the very midst of the fire, there is to be seen flying about a four-footed animal with wings, the size of a large fly: this creature is called the “pyrallis,” and by some the “pyrausta.” So long as it remains in the fire it will live, but if it comes out and flies a little distance from it, it will instantly die.
CHAP. 43.—THE ANIMAL CALLED HEMEROBION.
The Hypanis, a river of Pontus, brings down in its waters, about the time of the summer solstice, small membranous particles, like a grape-stone in appearance; from which there issues an animal[157] with four legs and with wings, similar to the one just mentioned. It does not, however, live more than a single day, from which circumstance it has obtained the name of “hemerobion.”[158] The life of other insects of a similar nature is regulated from its beginning to its end by multiples of seven. Thrice seven days is the duration of the life of the gnat and of the maggot, while those that are viviparous live four times seven days, and their various changes and transformations take place in periods of three or four days. The other insects of this kind that are winged, generally die in the autumn, the gad-fly becoming quite blind[159] even before it dies. Flies which have been drowned in water, if they are covered with ashes,[160] will return to life.
CHAP. 44. (37.)—THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL ANIMALS CONSIDERED LIMB BY LIMB. THOSE WHICH HAVE TUFTS AND CRESTS.
In addition to what is already stated, we will add an account of every part of the body of an animal, taken limb by limb.
All those which have blood, have a head as well. A small number of animals, and those only among the birds, have tufts of various kinds upon the head. The phœnix[161] has a long row of feathers on it, from the middle of which arises another row; peacocks have a hairy tuft, resembling a bushy shrub; the stymphalis[162] has a sort of pointed crest, and the pheasant, again, small horns. Added to these, there is the lark, a little bird, which, from the appearance of its tuft, was formerly called “galerita,” but has since received the Gallic name of “alauda,”[163] a name which it has transferred to one of our legions.[164] We have already made mention, also, of one bird[165] to which Nature has given a crest, which it can fold or unfold at pleasure: the birds of the coot kind[166] have also received from her a crest, which takes its rise at the beak, and runs along the middle of the head; while the pie of Mars, and the Balearic crane, are furnished with pointed tufts. But the most remarkable feature of all, is the crest which we see attached to the heads of our domestic fowls, substantial and indented like a saw; we cannot, in fact, strictly call it flesh, nor can we pronounce it to be cartilage or a callosity, but must admit that it is something of a nature peculiar to itself. As to the crests of dragons, there is no one to be found who ever saw one.