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Show BOOK r. • .. H I S T 0 . R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. of a goofe-qnill; of a tawny colour ufon th: u~per ~art o~ th~ bod~, and white upon the under part. It ftmgs w1th lts tatl, whtch .Is hatd and poifonous. The Ocuiliztac is a black. marfh-worm, wh1ch becomes white on being roafted. All thefe mfeets were eaten by the ancient Mexicans. Laftly, to omit other infects the vet~ names of w?ich w~uld fill an immenfe catalogue, I !hall conclude th1s account With a ~md of zo~phytes, or a11imal plants, which I faw in the ,Year I 7 5 I, 111 a houfe m the country, about ten miles from Angelopoh, towards the fouth-eaft. Thefe were three or four inches long, and had four very flender feet, and two antennre; but their body was nothing more than the fibres of the leaves, of the tune fl~ape, fize, and colour with thofe of the other leaves of the trees upon which thefe infeCts were found. Hernandez mentions them by the name of ~auhmecatl; and Gemelli defcribes another fomewhat fimilar which was found in the neighbourhood of Manila ( k). The ilight account we have already given of the natural hiil:ory of Anahuac, may fervc to lhew the differences that take place in the hot, the cold, and the temperate countries, of which that vafi kingdom is compofed. Nature in the hot countries is· more profufe, and in the cold and temperate, more mild. In the former, the hills abound more in minerals and fprings, the valleys arc more delightful,. and the woods are thicker. There we meet with plants more ufeful for the fupport of life (l). Trees of larger growth, more valuable woods, more beautiful flowers, more delicious fruits, and more aromatic gums. There too the animals are more numerous and of greater variety, and the individuals of the different fpecies of greater beauty and fize; the birds have a finer plumage and a fweeter fong: but all thefe advan- (~) I am aware that modern naturalifis felclom appfy the n~mc of zoo;bytn, unlcfs to certain marine bodies, which, with the appearance of vegetables, arc really of the narme of ani· m ~ l s ; but ! give it to thofc terreftrial infcCl s, bccaufe it fecnu with as much, if not more propnety appltcable to them than to the marine bodies. In my Natural J>hilofopl .y, I think I have given a very probable explanation of the operation of nature in the proJ~rClion of f·uch infcCls. • (/) It is true, that generally neither corn grows there, nor many of the European fmit s, fuch as :1pples, peaches, peare, &c. yet what lignifies the want of a few of thofc vegetables, compared with the unfpcakablc profufion and variety of pl:um fcrving both for food anclm~- dicinc, which arc to be found in thofc couDtrics? · tagcs H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. tages are counterbalanced by equal inconveniencies; for there the beafi:s of prey are more terrible, the reptiles more poifonous, and the infeCts more pernicious. The earth there never feels the effects of winter, nor is the atmofpliere fubjeCl:ed to a hurtful vicifEtude of feafons, A perpetual fpring reigns upon the earth, and a perpetual fummer in the air. The inhabitants are ufed to that e~ceillvc heat, but from the confl:ant fweating which it occafions, together with the ufe of thofe exquifite fruits which the bountiful earth prefents to them in fuch abundance, they are often affeCted with diforders unknown in other climates. The cold countries are neither fo fruitful nor fo beautiful, but on the other hand they are more favoumblc to health, and the animals are lefs hurtful to man. In the temperate countries (at kafi: in many of them, and particularly in the vale of Mexico), arc enjoyed the advantages of the cold~ and many of the pleafures of the ' hot climates without the inconveniencies of either. The moil: common· difeafes of the hot countries are intermittent fevers, fpafms, and confumptions ; and in the port of Vera Cruz, within thefe few years, the black vomiting (m) : in other parts, catarrhs, fluxes, pJenrifies, and acute fevers; and in the capital, the diarrhcea. Bcfides thcfe more frequent difeafes, certain epidemical difordcrs arife at times, which feem in fome degree periodical, although not with much ex:aCl: nefs or regularity, fuch as thofe which appeared in I 546, 1 576, 1736, and 1762. The fmall-pox brought thither by the Spanifh conquerors, is not fcen fo frequently in that country as in Europe; but generally appears after an interval of a certain number of years, and then attacking all thofe who had not been afteCl:ed by it before, it makes as much havoc at one time as it docs fuccciJi.vely in Europe. The nations which poffcffed thofe conntric:s before the Spaniards, although differing in language, and partly alio in manners, were yet nearly of the fame character. The moral and phyfi cal qualities of the Mexicans, their tempers and difpofit ions w rc the f.1mc with thofe of the Acolhuicans, the Tepanceans, the Tlafcallans, and other nation s, with no other difference than what arofc from their di.lre ren t mode of education ; fu that what we !hall fay of the one, we fhould wi01 ' to (.111r Ulloa, and other hi no ri:ms of America, dcfcribc the fp~ fms ~n (l rhc bb rk vomiting. The latter difcafc W<~S not kt1own in that country before the p :ar r 7 26 . be 77 BOOK I; ~ Sr cT. X\" • Characters of the Mexicans anci other natiunA of Anahuac, ' |