Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/489

455&#93; CAT for aphthous eruptions, or the thrush, and similar affections. The best form in which catechu can be taken, is that of simple in- fusion in warm water, with the addition of cinnamon, or cassia : thus it is freed from its impurities, and rendered more palatable. It is given in doses from fifteen to forty grains, according to the age and constitution of the patient, CATERPILLAR, or Eruca, a genus of insecfs, comprehending many species, of which that most generally known is the common, or garden-caterpillar. The natural food of these creatures consists of the leaves and verdure of vege- tables; but, harmless as they ap- pear, there are some species among them which destroy one another, whenever an opportunity offers : the generality of caterpillars, how- ever, are very peaceable, and many species live together in the same place, without molesting each other. These would breed and multiply to an incredible degree, were they not devoured by other insects, which prey upon them, both ex- ternally and internally, and liter- ally consume them alive. Caterpillars are very destructive in gardens and fields, especially those denominated the black, and the black-canker caterpillar, which prey principally on turnips. The former insect, is of the colour of soot; and, when full grown, about three quarters of an inch in length. It commences its depredations tor. wards the end of August, or the beginning of September, and is particularly numerous, when the north or easterly winds prevail. To counteract the devastation oc- casioned by this insect, it has been recommended, at the first plough- ing, to irrigate the furrows with CAT [ 455 lime-water, which will effectually destroy it ; as few inserts like the smell of any thing that has been burned. The black-cankercaterpillars are principally found in the county srf Norfolk, where, from the great numbers of inseds which have been washed upon the beach, bv the tide, it is generally believed that they are not natives, but wafted across the ocean. These cankers arc supposed to be the ca- terpillar state of the yellow fly, which is particularly destructive in fields planted With turnips and cab- bages ; for they have been ob- served regularly to assume the ap- pearance of those flies. For this evil, there appears to be no other remedy, but to pull the creatures off their nests, and to watch die flies, which during the hot weather are daily depositing their eggs on those plants. There is also another variety, called by gardeners the grit/', the skin of which is very tough, and ot a brown colour. This insect is particularly injurious, usually de- positing its eggs in the very heart of the piants, through all the blades of which it eats its way, leaving behind a great quantity of its ( x- crement, which is hurtful to vege? tation. Grubs likewise burrow under the surface of the ground, and do great damage to young plants, by eating off their tender stalks, and drawing them into sub- terraneous holes. This mischief is principally done in the night ; but, if the earth be stirred about an inch deep, where a plant is found to be thus injured, the insect will be dis- covered : and this is the only cer- tain way of exterminating these noxious vermin. When caterpillars attack fruk- G s4 trees