Mr. Waterhouse, of the Entomological
department of the British Museum, very kindly examined him before death,
and was of opinion he was OEcophora pseudospretella.
In July, 1885, Dr. Garnett, of the British Museum, gave me two worms
which had been found in an old Hebrew Commentary just received from Athens.
They had doubtless had a good shaking on the journey, and one was moribund
when I took charge, and joined his defunct kindred in a few days.
The other seemed hearty and lived with me for nearly eighteen months.
I treated him as well as I knew how; placed him in a small box with the
choice of three sorts of old paper to eat, and very seldom disturbed him.
He evidently resented his confinement, ate very little, moved very little,
and changed in appearance very little, even when dead. This Greek worm,
filled with Hebrew lore, differed in many respects from any other I
have seen. He was longer, thinner, and more delicate looking than any
of his English congeners. He was transparent, like thin ivory, and had
a dark line through his body, which I took to be the intestinal canal. He
resigned his life with extreme procrastination, and died "deeply lamented"
by his keeper, who had long looked forward to his final development.
The difficulty of breeding these worms is probably due to their formation.
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