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Show 1B 00 K I. ~ It 1 s 1 ~ R y 0 F M E X I C 0. fianding water, and ilirubs, encourage ttheir propagatio~. They are in immenfe numbers in the lake of Chalco; but the capital, although ncar to that lake, is. entirely free of that nuifance. . . In the hot countries there is likewife a kind of fmall fhes, which make no buz in flying, hut rrufe a. violent itching by the~r punCture, and an open wound is very ready to be made, if the part IS fcratced. ln thofe hot countries alfo, but particularly in thofe next the fca, Cu.carac!Jas are found in great numbers. This is a large winged, filthy, pernicious infeCt, which fpoils all eatables, p.articulai:ly any thing fwcet; but in fome other refpeCl:s is of great ufe m cl·anng houfes of bugs. It has been remarked, that the !hips which come fro~n ~ur~pe full of bugs, return from New Spain quite freed of thefe ftmkmg mfcets, by means of the Cucarachas (b). The Butterflies of Mexico, are much more numerous, and of greater variety, than in Europe. It is impoffiblc to give lny idea of their variety and beauty, and the fi.neft pencil is unable to imitate the. exquifite colouring and defign, which ,the Author of Nature has d1fplayed in the embellifhment of their wings. Many refpeCtable Authors 'have celebrated them in their writings; and Hernandez l~as made fome be drawn, in order to give Europea~s an idea of their beauty. But the butterflies although numerou~, arc not to be compared ·in that refpeCt, with the locufts, which, fometimes darkening the air like thick clouds, fall upon the fea coafis, and lay wafl:e all the vegetation of the country; as I have myfelf witnefi<~d, in the year 17 3 8, or 1739, upon the coafl:s of Xicayan. From this caufe a great famine was lately occafioned in the Peninfula of Yucatan: but no country has b::en vifited by this dreadful fcourge fo often as the wretched California (c). Among the land-infeCts, befides the common ones, about which nothing occurs to me worthy to be mentioned, there (h) This in rca is likewife an "enemy of the {ludiom, preying upon the ink, in the nighttime, ttnlcfs it is carefully covered ttp. The S11aniards call it Cucarncl.,a, others all it Ka~·n·laqucs, and others 'Dn·mtjlcs, &.c. (<') In the hifiory of California, which will be publiChcd in a few months, will he found a gn·at many obfi rvations with refpect to locufls, made by the Abbe D. Mich. dd Barco, who li ved 11pw:trds of thirty years in that count~y, a country not more famou$ than 11ndc• fcning of the fame it has ac~~uir~d, 1 ~re H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E ·x l C 0.- are worms of feveral ·kinds, fcolopendr:r, f~orpions, fpiders, an(s, nigua chegoes or jiggers, and the cochineal. Of the worms, fome are ufeful, and others pernicious; fome fervetl as food t~ the ancient Mexicans, and others in the way of medicine, as the Axm. ~nd the J>_ollin, which we !haU fpeak of in another place. The 'l'feocuzlm or burnmg worm, has the fame qualities· with the Can-· ~haridcs : its head is red, the breaft green, and the reil: of the body us of a tawny-colour. The 'l'emahuani, is a worm covered with yellow,_ venernous prickles. The 'I'emi[ffi refembles the filk-worm, both in its operations and its metamorphofcs. The fik-worm was· brought from Europe, and was propagated with fuccefs. Great. plenty of good filk W;.JS· made, efpecially in Mizteca (d), whc:re it became a great at'ticle of trade; but the Miztecans being afterwards,. from political caufes, forced to abandon it, the rearing of the wormS> was like wife .neglected ; and at this time very few are employed in that bufinefs. Befidcs- that common filk, there is another excellent kind, .very white, foft, and il:rong, whioh is often to be found upon treea, m fevc~al ';oods u.pon the fea .coafts, particularly in thofe years· whe~ there IS· httle ram. But, un1efs by fome poor people, this, iilk IS ~ot turned to any ufe, partly from inattention, to their interefts,. ~ut chiefly fi·om the obftruetions which would be certainly thrown m the way of any one who .lhould attempt a trade of that kind .. We know from Cortcs·'s. letters to Charles Vth, that filk ufed to be fo)d in the markets· of Mexico ; and [orne piCtures are ftill preferved,. done by the ancient Mexicans upon a paper made of filk. The Scolopendras are fometimes feen in the temj.Jerate parts, but more frequently in the warm and moiiL Hc:n~andez fays, that he has feen fome of them of the length of two feet, and two inches thick: but fuch monftrous infeCts can. "only have been feen in the wetteft and moil: uncultivated place; for we who have been in a.· great ma; y places·, through every variety of climate, never met with• any one of fuch extraordinary fize. Scorpions are common throughout the whole kingdom, but in the· cold and temperate countries they are not numerous, nor very hurtful. (tl) Some places in Mizteca flill preferve the name whioh they obtained formerly, upon ac( Ollnt of fha.t trade; asjilk St. Fra11cis, jilk Cf'epe.re .. Thev 7~ BOOK.J.,. ~ |