The Deathwatch, of which there are two kinds, is an insect famous for a
ticking noise, like a watch, which superstitious people take for a
presage of death, in the family where it is heard.




SCORPION.

[Illustration]


This is one of the largest of the insect tribe. It is met with in
different countries, and of various sizes, from two or three inches to
nearly a foot in length: it somewhat resembles a lobster, and casts its
skin, as the lobster does its shell.

Scorpions are common in hot countries: they are very bold and watchful:
when any thing approaches, they erect their tails, and stand ready to
inflict the direful sting. In some parts of Italy and France, they are
among the greatest pests that plague mankind: they are very numerous,
and are most common in old houses, in dry or decayed walls, and among
furniture, insomuch that it is attended with, much danger to remove the
same: their sting is generally a very deadly poison, though not in all
cases, owing to a difference of malignity of different animals, or some
other cause.

In the time of the children of Israel, scorpions were a plague in Egypt
and Canaan, as appears by the sacred writings. See Deuteronomy, viii.