Copy 2

On the history and natural arrangement of insects / By William Swainson and W.E. Shuckard.

  • William Swainson
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the history and natural arrangement of insects / By William Swainson and W.E. Shuckard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    397/420 (page 387)
    STRUCTURE OF THE CRUSTACEA. 587 and Anoplura: and are all hexapods, the former are covered with hair or scales, and the tail has filaments or sete whereby they jump; they are very active, and occur in neglected collections or among rejectamenta and refuse. They comprise Lepisma, Forbicina, Podura, &c.; in the latter, the forked tail is bent beneath the abdomen, and forms a leaping apparatus. The Ano- plura consist of the lice, which are all parasites, —some one being peculiar to all animals and birds; and one, in particular, is the cause of a disgusting disease, the Phthi- riasis, — instances of which now rarely occur, but which was comparatively common during the middle ages. (351.) The fourth division of the Aptera, the Crus- TACEA, is allied to the Myriapoda by means of Oniscus ; but here again, in this order, we shall reverse the affi- nities, and proceed in a declining line from the superior to the inferior. The subject of a metamorphosis we have before noticed, in speaking of Mr. Thompson’s researches, and shall not resume it here, farther than by observing that it has very recently been confirmed by Rathke.* In speaking of the order generally, we may observe, that although they possess symmetrical forms, yet is it combined with such eccentric extravagance as to outrage all preconceived notions of elegance and beauty. How it was that many of them were ever se- lected as choice comestibles, we know not; and it must certainly be considered a vagary of human caprice, which can sit down with zest to a lobster or crab salad, that would turn with disgust from a stew of caterpillars, although the latter are by far the mostcleanly feeders. Did the public appetite take this turn, we should not then vainly ask for remedies against the destroyers of our crops, but which would thus yield us other crops equally ser- viceable and beneficial! Thisdivision combines structural] differences and peculiarities far more varied than we ob- served in the Arachnide, but which we must treat more briefly, for our space precludes the amplitude of detail that can alone make such particulars instructive or amusing ; * Wiegman’s Archiv., part iil. 1840. cco 2