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exists somewhat abundantly in animal bodies, we may not greatly err in ascribing the luminousness of insects to the phosphorus intermixed with fatty or albuminous matter. Phosphorus is not of itself luminous, but it becomes so by contact with the oxygen of the atmosphere. Now the observations which have been made on these insects, under a variety of circumstances agree tolerably well with the common properties of phosphorus, supposing that to be the light-producing source in the insect. The insect is luminous not merely at its bright spots, but throughout its interior, wherever the luminous phosphoric combination is formed: the light disappears in irrespirable gases; it increases by warmth, but is destroyed by cold; by immersion in oil, alcohol, acids, saturated solutions of salts and alkalis, as also in vacuo. The light of phosphorus is subject to similar changes when similarly treated.

If therefore phosphorus exists in the luminous insects, in combination with a fatty or albuminous substance, we must attribute the luminousness to respiration, by which process oxygen is deposited in the corporeal substance, and each inspiration causes the animal to shine. Now, as Burmeister observes, as respiration is always strongest during flight, it follows that the emission of light will also then be most powerful. In opposition to this the wingless state of the female glow-worm might be urged; but her short and thick body must contain more of the phosphoric fatty substance, and must therefore emit a stronger light than that of the male, whose body is more slender. Next to respiration, the circulation of the blood seems to have great influence upon the light, for we know that the substance emits light only when moist; and the blood, flowing in the immediate vicinity or in contact with the fatty

which promotes thance, may supply the moisture

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luminousness. Carus has also observed that upon each pulsation, and consequently upon each fresh wave of blood, the light shines brighter. He observes also that the brighter shining of the female may be due to the dark, damp places which she inhabits. Thirdly: the nervous system may exercise a certain influence on the production of the light, for as it is the chief agent of all the voluntary motions of the body, it will also of necessity exercise some influence upon the voluntary suppression of the light, if the insect suspends this influence by checking respiration in the same way that it causes the nerve to act upon the muscle in producing muscular motion. That it possesses this faculty of checking respiration is admitted by naturalists; but that this cannot be long protracted is evident from the very nature and purposes of respiration; and thus by both causes the momentary cessation of light which is frequently observed may be produced. Upon respiring again the insect would necessarily become again luminous.

Some of the most remarkable among luminous insects are found in the genus Fulgora, though it is not certain that the effulgent property which the generic name seems to imply is possessed by all the species. They are all furnished alike with a remarkable trunk or proboscis on the fore part of the head, but in some of the species it is extremely small. The light in this genus has been observed to issue from the trunk in question, and thus the large and brilliant species inhabiting China and several other eastern countries, as well as that which illumines the savannahs of South America, has acquired the general name of Lantern-fly, or Lantern-carrier. The proboscis in these insects is described as being hollow or empty, and what seems still more extraordinary, it has a free communication with the external air by means of a

chink, or narrow aperture, placed on each side, at the root of the proboscis. This projection is covered internally by a membrane, between which and the horny part or shell, there appears to be interposed a pale reddish coloured soft substance, that is arranged in the species candelaria in broad lines or stripes, but this substance is so extremely thin that its structure cannot be distinctly ascertained.

The beautiful insect of which a representation is given at the end of this article is the Fulgora candelaria, or Chinese Lantern-Fly. Its long cylindrical proboscis is slightly arched in an upward direction: the reticulated elytra, or wing-cases, are of a greenish tint, variously spotted or marked: the wings are of a beautiful orange-yellow, with black extremities.

This insect is an inhabitant not only of China but of several other countries of the East, and may be seen in vast numbers flitting among the dark recesses of the Banyan-tree, or dancing around the branches of the spreading tamarind, producing a brilliant and beautiful effect.

The South American species, (Fulgora lanternaria,) is an equally remarkable insect, carrying its light in a proboscis similar to that of the candelaria. It is also met with in Surinam, and some idea may be formed of its brilliancy by the account given of it by Madame Merian in her Metamorphosis of Insects:

Once (says this authoress) when the Indians brought me a number of these lantern-carriers, I put them in a wooden box, without being aware of their shining at night; but one night being awakened by an unusual noise, and much frightened, I jumped out of bed and ordered a light, not that it originated in the box: we opened it, and became still knowing whence this noise proceeded. We soon found more alarmed, for a flame issued from it, which received additional lustre as one insect after another flew out.

This account of Madame Merian, when first published, appeared too marvellous to be generally believed, and notwithstanding similar relations had been received of the lantern-fly of Peru, as seen by Dr. Grew, very little credit was given to her account, until it became abundantly confirmed by the testimony of missionaries and other tra travellers.

It is strange that the veracity of travellers should have been so long doubted respecting insects of this kind, as there is nothing in the property ascribed to these little creatures more wonderful in its nature than that which is possessed by our own familiar example of a luminous insect, the common glow-worm*. On every hedge

The glow-worm lights her gem, and through the dark
A moving radiance twinkles.

*See Saturday Magazine, Vol. IV. p. 220, and Vol. XII. p. 240,

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No. VI.

PORT VATHI, CAPITAL OF ITHACA.

- ITHACA AND SANTA MAURA.
ITHACA, called Thiaka by some, is supposed to be the
Ithaca of Homer, the birth-place and patrimonial king-
dom of Ulysses. It is of an irregular shape, about
eighteen miles long, and with a breadth varying from
a mile and a half to five miles. It is distant from the
mainland of Greece about fifteen miles at the nearest
point. It has been described, from its peculiar form, as
consisting of two large masses of mountain, united by
a third smaller mass: indeed the whole island is a mass
of mountains, running nearly east and west, of which
Mount Stephanos and Mount Neritos are the two
highest points.

or else turning it up with a hoe: this last instrument is most commonly used for clearing the roots of the vines, for the purpose of weeding, or applying manure and water. The seed-time is about November, and the grain is all gathered in by the end of June. The produce raised is similar to that of the other islands: the oil, wine, and currants, are more than sufficient for the wants of the inhabitants; they therefore export; but there is not sufficient of any other kind of food. Among the products of the island, we may mention the oak, which produces the valonia: it is to be lamented, as Mr. Kendrick remarks, that a sufficient quantity of it cannot be grown to make it an article of commerce. The valonia is the husk of Neither rivers, lakes, marshes, nor any collection the acorn, reduced afterwards to a powder, and of water, (accidental deposits for rain excepted,) are used by woolen-dyers to retain the colour in cloth. De found in the island. The wells are partly sup- There is, as has been observed, not sufficient grown from springs, and partly from rain: some of the springs are very copious, and one on the coast is celebrated in the pages of antiquity as the fountain of Arethusa. The climate is mild; and a refreshing westerly breeze generally sets in about midday. The soil of the island is principally patches interspersed among the crevices of the rocks, and the confined valleys between the mountains. The agriculture is very primitive, and indeed the nature of the soil does not seem to require or admit of more than scratching by a rude island plough, before throwing in the seed, VOL. XVII.

to

at Ithaca to enable the inhabitants to export it, although considerable quantities are annually shipped from other ports of the Mediterranean.

The inhabitants, rather more than 8000 in number, live in one town, and four villages. The town called Vathi, or Bathi, is built along the shore of the harbour, partly on ground recovered from the sea, partly on the edge of an alluvial valley which lies at the bottom of the harbour, and partly on the rocky cliffs overhanging the water. The houses are principally of stone and are generally insulated, but they are

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rudely put together, and penetrable to every blast. I take root. The shore is very shelving, and if a boat | The ground-floors of those built near the sea, and at were urged by strong rowers, the effect produced the edge of the valley, are said to be very damp after would, according to Mr. Goodison, be almost exactly heavy rains, especially as some of them are so injudi- similar to the arrival of the Phœacian boat as deciously placed as mechanically to obstruct the passage scribed in the Odyssey. At the northern angle of the of the rain-water into the sea. The streets, of which bay of Dexia are the remains of an immense cave, the principal one is nearly a mile long, are well with the marks of the chisel still existing in the face paved and remarkably clean. It is considered the of the rock: the roof has been destroyed, for the purhealthiest town in the island; and contains between pose of appropriating the stones for building at Vathi. two and three thousand inhabitants. Three of the Part of the southern entrance, which, according to four villages before alluded to, are on the sides of the Homer, was set apart for the gods, is still to be seen, mountains, and the other one is on the sea-shore: the and the site of that from the north, which was torn houses in all are built of stone, and all have a south-away probably with the roof in blasting the rock, may ern aspect.

The Ithacans are hardy sailors, and, in proportion to the size of their island, have a good deal of shipping. The boys, of every description, go to school, where they are taught to repeat prayers, to sing hymns, and to read and write: the latter two, however, with so little care, that their progress is such as to be of little service in after life:-indeed it is said, that the parents have so little control over their sons, that very often, instead of being at school, they are gambling. Females are taught nothing but to knit and sew, together with crossing themselves at certain hours, according to the ritual of their church.

Mr. Scott has given a curious picture of the mode of mourning the death of a friend at Ithaca, When any one dies, the nearest female relation sets up a shrill scream, and every woman within hearing of her, young or old, frail or strong, throws down her work, however pressing it may be, and starts for the scene of lamentation, to join in the general howl, till the house is filled. When they are tired of crying for their nearest and dearest relations last dead, and of sending embassies to them by the departed spirit of the deceased, they retire to make room for a new set to offer their condolence in the same way, to the wife, mother, or whatever relative she may be, who, though already worn out, must again pull her hair and scream with every fresh party. This lasts, (after the first two or three days,) at intervals of twenty-four hours at first, then a week, then a month, and at last a year. There is therefore always one of the howlings to be heard in some one of its stages, and none of the near relations must appear in public with a contented face for months, nor the mother or the wife of the deceased be ever seen to smile again, at the risk of losing her fair reputation; so that, on the whole, it is a rare thing to meet with a lively air of contentment among the females of this island. The males do not enter into these noisy lamentations, but they must shut themselves up for a month, without washing or shaving; they however beguile the time by snuffing and smoking, of which they are inordinately fond.

There are many memorials of early times to be found at Ithaca, which have induced Sir William Gell to consider it the scene of many of the exploits celebrated by Homer. Previously to entering the inner harbour, which is a recess of the great port Molo upon the left-hand side, a little bay with an insulated rock in front presents itself, called the bay of Dexia. It is usually visited from town by a short walk round the curve of the beach; or by taking a boat, if the visitor mean to extend his excursion further. This interesting spot is of a semicircular shape, and is edged by a margin of limestone pebbles, behind which is a little plain, sown with green corn and flax : the plain is surrounded by rocks, and nothing can exceed the beauty of the verdure creeping through the rocky crevices, with the profusion of wild flowers that spring up in every sunny spot where they can

be readily supplied by fancy.

But it would speedily swallow up the little space we have left, if we were to dwell on the remains of antiquity at Ithaca: we must therefore take leave of this island, and proceed to the last of the group which we have yet to describe, viz.

SANTA MAURA, OR LEUCADIA.

LEUCADIA was the name belonging to this island in ancient times, but the Venetians gave it that of Santa Maura. Its length is about thirty miles, and breadth about twelve, and it is almost close to the continent of Greece. The island consists of a chain of mountains, composed of calcareous rock, which terminates at the south-west in the bold promontory of Cape Ducato, the celebrated leap of Sappho, of whom poets have sung. Some parts of the mountain-chain reach an elevation of 3000 feet.

There are no considerable rivers in the island, but the fountains and wells are both numerous and good; and the town is supplied very plentifully with water, by means of an aqueduct, from a fountain about a league's distance, called Melagavrisi. A lake of stagnant water is annually formed in a valley about two leagues from the town, in a southerly direction, and which is surrounded by mountains. The lake is about a league in circumference: it begins to appear about the end of October, but by the end of the month of May the waters entirely drain off, leaving a very fertile plain of alluvial soil. There is also a salt-water lake, or lagoon, of a remarkable kind. An isthmus, about three miles broad, springs from the north-eastern foot of the chain of mountains, and extends for about four or five miles in a direction towards the mainland of Greece, until at length it terminates in a narrow slip which runs parallel to the mainland of the island for nearly half a mile, at a distance not exceeding three hundred feet from it. The Corinthians cut across this isthmus at the point of its connexion with the mainland. This cut, although originally sufficient to admit of the passage of ships, has long since been nearly filled up with mud and calcareous detritus, brought round by the action of the wind upon the rocky bases of the mountains. The depth of the water in the lagoon is stated by Dr. Hennen to be from three feet to six inches, with an extent of surface about six or eight square miles. The borders of the lagoon afford several shallow spots conveniently circumstanced for the manufacture of salt, by the process of evaporation by the heat of the

sun.

Five or six hundred persons are engaged in this occupation.

The island is very subject to earthquakes. In one which occurred in 1820, as described by Mr. Lavens, there were sixty-three severe shocks between the 12th of February and the 31st of March, which placed in ruins about seventy houses in the town, and left most of the others in a tottering condition. During this period there were also about eight hundred slight shocks, and sometimes the earth continued trembling

for the space of twelve or fourteen hours together, without any perceptible cessation. The inhabitants of the town were in a deplorable condition all this time, being obliged to seek shelter in miserable huts of temporary construction, not venturing to sleep in their houses for upwards of two months, fearing the shocks would increase in violence; and the minds of the superstitious were kept in a constant state of alarm and agitation by ridiculous prophecies from time to time in circulation, that the town was to be totally destroyed.

The roads and communications from one part of the island to another are gradually improving under the care of the British residents, The communication between the fortress and the town is effected by boats, and also, in a curious manner, by means of the remains of an old aqueduct. The conduit or chan

nel through which the water flowed is covered with smooth stones, and is about three feet broad, so as to admit of the passage of one person along it. It was erected by order of the emperor Bajazet. It is wards of half a mile in length, and is raised on 370 arches. It is no longer used as an aqueduct,

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The population of Santa Maura amounts to about sixteen thousand, who dwell in the town of Amaxichi, and in thirty-two inconsiderable villages scattered throughout the island. Amaxichi is somewhat more than a mile in circumference, containing about fourteen hundred houses, and six thousand inhabitants. It is rather a poor town, wood being the principal material of the houses. There is one tolerable street running its whole length, and, at its broadest part, about fifteen feet wide; but the other streets are mean, narrow, irregular, and dirty. The butchers expose their meat in the streets, as also do the vendors of bread, fruit, and vegetables, there being no regular market for those articles. A new fish-market is, however, built near the water's edge, where fish in great abundance and of excellent quality can be procured. The mode of fishing in the lagoon, as described by Mr. Goodison, is singular. As the water is seldom more than two feet and a half deep, the fish are enclosed in large spaces, by means of moveable wickers, chiefly made of canes, which are fixed upright in the soft bottom of the lake. These spaces are contracted at pleasure, and the fish thus preserved are gradually captured. The fishermen make use of a small canoe upon the lake, which draws but a few inches of water, called monoxylon: it is hollowed out, as the name imports, of one piece of wood. Sometimes the fish have perished in the winter season, from the lake having been frozen over, The principal kinds of fish are mullet, soles, eels, shrimps, crabs, and cockles.

It is a great bane attendant on the peculiar rites of the Greek church, that a considerable portion of the year is devoted by the inhabitants of Santa Maura either to feasting or to idleness, on account of the preposterous number of saints which they have crowded into their calendar. Mr. Goodison states that there are upwards of two hundred days in each year, for which religious duties furnish an exclusive privilege of exemption from all other avocations. The occurrence of a grand festival is sufficient to suspend the most necessary labour: the vintage, the gathering of salt or olives, is immediately abandoned upon these occasions, although impending destruction threatens the whole produce of the year, in the unexpected fall of a single night's rain.

The highest village in the island is called Engluvi. It lies in the bottom of a sort of cup-shaped cavity or hollow, formed by a cluster of peaks of the mountain which surrounds it. There is, however, an opening

to the north-west, by which the inhabitants enjoy the full benefit of the breeze, which almost constantly descends upon them during hot weather. There are about one hundred and twenty houses, and it is reckoned a cool and healthy village. The water is excellent, and one of the natives, in an excess of enthusiasm at its merits, declared to Mr. Goodison that a pound of it is lighter by several ounces than a pound of any other water.

Behind the town of Amaxichi is a beautiful plain, two miles in length, nearly covered with a magnificent wood of olive trees. The wood is intersected by two or three good roads, which, from their straightness and the dark shade thrown on them by the tall olives, remind our English visitor of one of the fine avenues belonging to the old country seats in his own country. We will here conclude our description of the Ionian Islands with a few words on the physical conformation of the inhabitants. The Ionians, in most respects, resemble the Greeks; the upper and front parts of the skull are well developed; the features are in general pleasing, and wear an air of intelligence; the complexion in healthy persons inclines towards olive, and in some of the females who are not exposed to the sun it is clear and white. The complexion of the peasantry, of course, is much affected by the sun; the eyes are almost universally brilliant and full in both sexes, and generally dark coloured.

NUTS AND NUTTING. II.

Nay gather not that filbert, Nicholas,
There is a maggot there,-it is his house,-
His castle,-oh, commit no burglary!
Strip him not naked,-'tis his clothes, his shell,
His bones, the case and armour of his life,
And thou shalt do no murder, Nicholas !
It were an easy thing to crack that nut,
Or with thy crackers, or thy double teeth,
So easily may all things be destroyed!
But 'tis not in the power of mortal man
To mend the fracture of a filbert-shell.-

SOUTHEY,

MUCH as the common hazel-nut is sought for and valued by those who visit the cool shade of woods and copses at this season of the year, it is very inferior to some of the cultivated varieties to which the familiar term filbert is applied. Filberts possess a milder flavour, contain less oil, and are therefore more wholesome than common nuts. The word filbert or filberd (according to Richardson) exists in no other language than the English; the origin assigned to it by Gower is not very probable, since our ancestors alone are not likely to have given the tree a classical

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The tree was cleped in the yerd.-GOWER. Another origin (of as little value) is given by Peacham in his Emblems, 1612. He is describing an English fruit-garden:

The Persian peach and fruitful quince,
And there the forward almond grew,
With cherries known no long time since;
The winter warden, orchard's pride,
The PHILIBERT that loves the vale,
And red queen apple, so envide

Of school-boys passing by the pale.

Upon this he observes, in a note, "The filbert, so named from PHILIBERT, a king of France, who caused by arte sundry kinds to be brought forth." Some suppose the original name to have been Fullbeard, in allusion to the long calyx or husk which envelops the fruit.

There are eight or nine varieties of filbert in cul

tivation; the general name of filbert being applied, not merely to the fruit commonly known by that titlc, distinguished by its long enveloping husks, but also to the kinds known as Cob-nut, Bond-nut, Large square Downton, &c. Filbert-trees are common in almost every garden, but about Maidstone, and in other parts of Kent, they are planted very extensively. Fields of many acres in extent are planted with them, and generally yield a remunerating crop. The soil in which filberts are planted should be loamy, on a dry sub-soil, and should receive a fresh dressing every second year, with a small quantity of manure. The most successful methods of propagation are, for dwarf trees, layering and grafting, and for strong plants, raising by suckers. If dwarf trees are required, layering is performed in the early part of the season, that the plants may become well rooted before autumn, when they are placed out in a nursery, or where they are intended to remain. The method of pruning is to cut down the layer to within a foot and a half of the ground, and carefully to remove any suckers which may appear at the bottom, that they may not draw away the nourishment from the principal stem. Twelve inches of the stem from the root upwards, must be kept quite free from shoots, the remaining six inches being sufficient to produce a good head to the tree. To the formation of this head particular attention must be paid. The buds at the top generally shoot forth with great vigour, but even these must not all be preserved. Eight or ten shoots are sufficient to form the head, and these must be carefully trained outwards; at first in a direction nearly horizontal, in which they may be easily kept by placing a hoop of proper size within them, and tying each shoot to the hoop at equal distances, in the form of a star. Afterwards, these shoots may be allowed to grow in an upward direction, so that the form of the young tree becomes that of a large bowl or basin, the central part being carefully cleared of branches, and the buds being only allowed to shoot forth on the exterior.

The admission of air and light to the central parts of the tree, which is promoted by this method of pruning and training, materially improves the healthfulness and fruitfulness of the branches; but after the tree has gained the desired form there are many niceties to be attended to, in retaining all the short fruitful spurs produced on the branches, cutting back the lateral shoots which arise from the same, &c. By a skilful management of the tree, and a judicious method of pruning, an abundant supply of fruit may be obtained for a great number of years.

The degree of care and attention requisite for keeping the trees in the state we have described is not likely to be bestowed on large plantations of filberts, unless where, as in some of the grounds of Kent, it is the aim of the cultivators to produce the largest quantity possible of fruit within a certain extent, and where, it is affirmed, the product of a single acre has sometimes been thirty hundred-weight of fruit. In private gardens, where neatness of appearance is desirable, this method of training may be used with much advantage.

In gathering this excellent fruit, we are often disappointed to find that numbers of the nuts are rendered useless to us, by the presence of a small white maggot, gaining its nourishment from the kernel, and living most luxuriously on its sweet food. In a poem called the Filbert (to which we are indebted for our motto to the present article,) Mr. Southey has amusingly represented the snug estate of this little worm. After glancing at some of the dangers to which it is exposed from the attacks of the mouse,

the nuthatch, and the squirrel, (though the latter animal is too sagacious often to make the mistake of cracking an unsound nut,) he proceeds thus:Man also hath his dangers and his foes, As this poor maggot hath; and when I muse viotaUpon the aches, anxieties, and fears,

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The maggot knows not, Nicholas, methinks
gniw It were a happy metamorphosis
fete To be enkernel'd thus: never to hear
Of wars, and of invasions, and of plots;
To feel no motion but the wind that shook
The Filbert-tree, and rock'd us to our rest;
And in the middle of such exquisite food
To live luxurious! The perfection this
Of snugness! It were to unite at once
Hermit retirement, Aldermanic bliss,
And Stoic independence of mankind.

We shall now proceed to give some account of the origin and transformations of this little grub. Jug ed 0021.12 67 sased sit to Hon

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THE NUT WEEVIL, (Balininus nurum.) A. Filberts perforated by the nut-weevil. B. The larva.-C. The pupa.

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D. The perfect insect, represented somewhat larger than the natural size. The parent insect, called the nut-weevil, (Balininus nucum *) belongs to a genus of coleopterous insects, the species of which are all furnished with a long and slender rostrum, or beak, provided at the extremity with a very minute pair of horizontal jaws: this singular instrument is sometimes nearly equal in length to the body of the insect itself, as in the case of the present species, the nut-weevil. This insect is about a quarter of an inch in length, and of a dull brown colour; it makes use of the beak in question to perforate the shells of nuts, when in their young and soft state, for the purpose of depositing its eggs. The mother weevil has been observed, about the beginning of August, eagerly running over the bushes, and seeking a place to commence operations. She has never been found to choose a nut in which another insect had previously laid an egg, but selecting fruit that is yet unattacked, she drills a hole with her horny beak, and introduces a single egg, of a brown colour. The nut is but little injured by this operation, and continues to grow and ripen. In about a fortnight from the time of its introduction the egg is hatched, and the young larva commences feeding on the soft internal parts of the shell, allowing the kernel to grow and attain its full size ere he begins to attack it. By this remarkable arrangement the life of the insect is preserved, and the kernel, being the last part which it attacks, affords food for the grub during the whole time required for the attainment of its full growth.

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When the nut becomes ripe and falls to the ground, in September or October, the grub makes its escape by gnawing a hole in the shell, or by enlarging that which had been previously made by the parent insect. It immediately burrows in the ground, but does not * This insect is otherwise called Curculio nucum, Phynchœnus · Rucum, Nut-beetle.

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