The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-12-02
THEREA BOOKWORM LAY
Mn pEgDERGRASSS FIND IN AN
OLD COPY OF CHA UCER.
IL 4. Said 70 BE the Third Specimen Dis
covered in the United States OF Crsa-
tuys Famous In Literature.


| been for years unopened In chest be-
| longing TO John Erskine Pendergrass OF
| this place. Mr.. Pendergrass got IL from
his father, whose grandfather brouShl
IL from England 1t was an heirloom
even at that time. No one read the Dook,
and although II was highly valued 1t lay
The other day Mr.. Pendergrass opened
the book by chance while rummaging III
the chest. Turning rapidly over It's leaves
his attention was arrested by a snalI
white worm which lay buried in hole
It had eaten In the pages me WORM
was motionless Protruding, over the
edge OF the leaves and attached 10 the
tail Of the worm was concal cocoon.
Mr.. Pendergrass says the worm is an
Aglossa pingunalis. In other words,
bookworm. IT is about three-eights OF an
inch long and one one-eighth of an linen
in diameter. Its head Is blunt, while us
tail tapers to a sharp point. III Is the
color of water mixed with oatmeal ~
raises itself suddenly, but almost instant
" resumes its position purled III the
pages.
The cocoon when examined under the mi
croscope appears to have six legs or leg
cases. and the white median line is bare
ly perceptible on its under side IN the
head of the worm are two me hodns
thirner than silk thread. There are hVe
rings around the tail The structure OF
the shell of the cocoon Is so thin that one
can easily see through 1t. 90,
Whether II is due TO the undesirapily
of the contents of our American nora,
ries considered from a gaStrOnomlcas
standpoint, or whether II Is on account Oh
the comparati tive youthfulness OF the ma
iority of American books, the book"orhi
is almost unknown in the American DID
liophile's family. 1t has even been as
serted that there Is a record OF onE
three having hitherto been found IN TINS
country. Concerning the destruGiilEe pVm,
er of the bookworm, william Blaues, az
English writer in DOCK Written oieF'A
years ago, says; .o,,,
"a most destructive enemy OF poohs,
has been the bookworm. L say mas ueer
because, fortunately, his raVages IN an
civilized countries have been greatly re-
stricted during the last fifty years. rms
is due partly TO the increased reverence
for antiquity which has been universal
lv developed more. still. to the feellng
or cupidity which has caused all owners
to take caro- of volumes which year
nv year become more valuable. and 70
some extent TO the falling off IN the
production Of edible books"
Another writer says that through the
Dark Ages the monks, who were the
chief makers as well as custodians oil
books, had no fear of the bookworm, TOT
he loves not parchment, and az that
time there was no paper. All writers on
this subject agree that before the inven~
ton of typography rare and precious
manuscripts were well preserved. But
with the invention of the printing press,
paper books were slowed away In musty
corners and out-of-the-way places and
left neglected. The result was that one
bookworms became the tenants OF the
libraries. A bitter feeling has existed
between the writer and the worm OF
centuries. Anathemas have been hurled
against this pest in nearly every Eu-
ropean language, old and new. Doroston
had his say about them in these lines:
There is sort of busy worm
That will the fairest books defOrm
BY gnawing holes throughout them.
Alike through every leaf they 20,
Yet Of it's merits naught they know
Nor care they aught about them.
Their tasteless tooth will tear and faint
The poet, patriot, sage. or saint,
Not sparing wit or learning.
Now, If you'd know the reason why,
The best of reasons I'll supply
IT'S bread to the poor vermin.
or pepper, SNUFF. or 'bacco smoke,
And Russian calf, they make a joke.
Yet why should sons of science
These puny, vaulting reptiles dread?
It's but TO let their books be read,
And bid the worms defiance.
The bookworm, according TO his bio
! gfaphers, appears in many varieties Of
J size and shape. Sylvester in his Laws
| OF Nene' describes him as "a microscopic
| creature, Wriggling on the learned page.
which, when discovered stiffens out into
| the resemblance of a streak Of dirt"
| The earliest known notice OF the book
| worm is in 'Micrographia', by r. Hooke.
! published in London I'm 1865. This work.
| which was printed at the expense Of the
| Royal Society of London, is an account
| OF lnnumerable things examined by the
| author under the microscope. and Is most
| interesting, as one writer SAYS Tor the
| frequent accuracy of the authors obser-
| Vauons, and most amusing for his equal
! ~ frequent bunders" In his account
| OF the bookworm Mr. HoOke calls il "a
| small white silver-shining worm or moth.
| which | find much conversaut among
! books and papers, and suppose to be
! that which corrodes and eats holes
| through the leaves and covers. Its head
| appears big and blunt and its body Ia
| pers from 1t toward the tail, smaller and
| smaller, being shaped almost like a car
| rot. 1t has two long horns before which
are straight and tapering toward the top,
! curiously winged or knobbed, and brstled
much like the marsh weed called horses
tail. The hinder part is terminated with
three tails, in every particular resembling
the TWO longer horns that grow out OF
the head. The legs are scaled and hair
ed. This animal probably feeds upon the
papers and covers Of books and perfo-
rates them in small holes finding, per-
haDS. convenient nourishment in those
husKs of hemp and fax which have
passed through so many scouriugs. wash
} ings, dressings and dryingS as the parts
of old paper necessarily have suffered.
And, indeed when / consider what a
heap OF sawdust or chips this little crea-
ture (Which is one Of the teeth OF timeD
conveys into its entrails, / cannot choose
but remember and admire the excellent
contrivance Of nature in placing In ami
mails such fire as Is continually nour-
ished and supplied by the materials con-
veyed into the stomach and fomented By
the bellows of the lungs"
Kirby, in speaking Of the worm, says
II have often observed the caterpillar OF
a little moth that takes its station In
damp old books and there commits great
| ravages; and many a black letter rari-
~, which in these days of bibliG.nania
would have been valued as its weight I'm
gold, has been snatched by these devas-
tators"
Harnett, in his work on bookbndlng,
gives Aglossa pinguinalis as the real
name Of the bookworm. and Mrs. Gatty,
in her Parallels" christens it Hypothe-
menus eru0itus. The Rev. +. r. Haver-
gal, who many years ago had much trou-
Bile with boOkworms in the cathedral
library of Hereford. England, wrote that
the worms were a kind Of death watch.
with a hard, outer skin, and are dark
brown" Another sort had white bod
les. with brown spots on their heads"
Mr.. Holmes, in Notes and Queries for
1870 states that the Anobium paniceum
has done considerable injury TO the Arab
&c manuscripts brought from Cairo by
library. cambridge. Other writer's say
that Acarus eruditus or Anobum peril
max are the correct scientific names
William Blades in his work, Enemies
of Books" says: Personally l have
come across only three specimens OF the
bookworm; nevertheless, from what |
have been told by librarians, and judging
from analogy, | imagine the following 10
be about the truth; there are several
kinds OF caterpillar and grub which eat
into books; those with legs are the larvae
OF moths; those withc-T legs are grubs