Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part One 1800–1846 Naturals and Naturalists
- Part One Introduction
- “A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1799)
- “Pileated Woodpecker,” American Ornithology; or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States (1801)
- “Currents,” The New American Practical Navigator (1802)
- “Account of a North American Quadruped, supposed to belong to the Genus Ovis, Rocky-Mountain Sheep, Ovis Montana,” Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1817)
- “A Monograph of North American insects, of the genus Cincindela” (excerpt) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1818)
- “On the Genus Ocythoe,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1819)
- “Preface,” American Entomology, or Descriptions of the Insects of North America (1824–28)
- “Preface” (excerpt), The Genera of North American Plants and a Catalogue of the Species, to the Year 1817 (1818)
- “Pileated Woodpecker,” Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada (1832)
- “Introduction,” Ichthyologia ohiensis, or natural history of the fishes inhabiting the river Ohio and its tributary streams (1820)
- “Notices of Materia Medica, or new medical properties of some American Plants,” Western Minerva or, American Annals of Knowledge and Literature (1820)
- “Passenger Pigeon,” Ornithological Biography (1831)
- “On the Production of Currents and Sparks of Electricity from Magnetism,” American Journal of Science and Arts (July 1832)
- “The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever” (excerpts), New England Quarterly Journal of Medicine (1843)
- “On the Two Storms Which Were Experienced throughout the United States, in the Month of February, 1842” (excerpt) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1845)
- Part Two 1846–1876 Warriors
- Part Three 1876–1900 Scientists
- Bibliography
“A Monograph of North American insects, of the genus Cincindela” (excerpt) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1818)
from Part One - 1800–1846 Naturals and Naturalists
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Part One 1800–1846 Naturals and Naturalists
- Part One Introduction
- “A Memoir on the Discovery of Certain Bones of a Quadruped of the Clawed Kind in the Western Parts of Virginia,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1799)
- “Pileated Woodpecker,” American Ornithology; or the Natural History of the Birds of the United States (1801)
- “Currents,” The New American Practical Navigator (1802)
- “Account of a North American Quadruped, supposed to belong to the Genus Ovis, Rocky-Mountain Sheep, Ovis Montana,” Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (1817)
- “A Monograph of North American insects, of the genus Cincindela” (excerpt) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1818)
- “On the Genus Ocythoe,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (1819)
- “Preface,” American Entomology, or Descriptions of the Insects of North America (1824–28)
- “Preface” (excerpt), The Genera of North American Plants and a Catalogue of the Species, to the Year 1817 (1818)
- “Pileated Woodpecker,” Manual of the Ornithology of the United States and Canada (1832)
- “Introduction,” Ichthyologia ohiensis, or natural history of the fishes inhabiting the river Ohio and its tributary streams (1820)
- “Notices of Materia Medica, or new medical properties of some American Plants,” Western Minerva or, American Annals of Knowledge and Literature (1820)
- “Passenger Pigeon,” Ornithological Biography (1831)
- “On the Production of Currents and Sparks of Electricity from Magnetism,” American Journal of Science and Arts (July 1832)
- “The Contagiousness of Puerperal Fever” (excerpts), New England Quarterly Journal of Medicine (1843)
- “On the Two Storms Which Were Experienced throughout the United States, in the Month of February, 1842” (excerpt) Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1845)
- Part Two 1846–1876 Warriors
- Part Three 1876–1900 Scientists
- Bibliography
Summary
It will perhaps be thought necessary, previous to entering into a technical detail of the characters of the genus Cicindela, and of the indigenous individuals which are comprehended by it, that some account of the manners of this sprightly tribe should be given, and of such circumstances, relating to them, as may serve to present them to the recollections of the general observer. I shall accordingly proceed to state, that these insects usually frequent arid, denudated soils; are very agile, run with greater celerity than the majority of the vast order to which they belong; and rise upon the wing, almost with the facility of the common fly. They are always to be seen, during the warm season, in roads or pathways, open to the sun, where the earth is beaten firm and level. At the approach of the traveler, they fly up suddenly to the height of a few feet, pursuing then a horizontal course, and alighting again at a short distance in advance, as suddenly as they arose. The same individual may be roused again and again, but when he perceives himself the object of a particular pursuit, he evades the danger by a distant and circuitous flight, usually directed towards his original station. It is worthy of observation, as a peculiarity common to the species, that when they alight, after having been driven from their previous position, they usually perform an evolution in the air near the earth, so as to bring the head in the direction of the advancing danger, in order to be the more certainly warned of its too near approach.
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- Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2012