INSECTS.

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neighbourhood of the hives. I have heard it stated that thehoney of the Highlands of Scotland is often injurious to thosenot accustomed to eat it. I suggest that the unwholesomequality may proceed from the heath, which so abounds inthose districts. In some parts of Asia Minor , whole districtsare covered with the Rhododendrons , and honey in thoseplaces is almost poison to strangers. I have no doubt butthat the deaths of some of the Greek soldiers in the cele-brated retreat of the ten thousand from eating honey nearTrebisond, was caused by the Rhododendrons. 1 would nothave my hives near a large collection of the Rhododendron family even in England,

The injuries done by insects may be mitigated bypaying attention to their time and mode of laying theireggs. By destroying an insect in the winged or egg-layingstate, we prevent the formation of the multitude of larvae orgrubs, which are generally the most pernicious. If we pro-tect our woollen clothes and furs from the moths, by exposingthem to the light and beating them, &c., during the layingseason, the moths will have laid no eggs upon them, and,consequently, we may put them by without there being asingle larva (maggot) to feed upon the wool or fur. Ihave no business to enter in this place into a treatise oninsects, so I shall only speak of them, as they incidentallyoffer any thing worth mentioning of my own observation.When speaking of scorpions, some pages back, I forgot tostate, that their poison, which is contained in a yellowishwhite bag at the root of the sting at the point of the tail }is not noxious when taken into the human stomach, evenin a fasting state. One day, while staying at the villa ofmy friend Degen, at Capo di Monte, before breakfast, Ihappened to find three very large scorpions, under a heap ofwood in the garden. I caught them all alive, and put theminto a glass goblet. I introduced the gentlemen in the

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