The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-03-03
BOOK O R IN CAPTIVITY
AN INTERESTING EXHIBIT At THE
LENOL LIBRARY.

rvo Ysara Ago Thor Were Fouud RattnG Their
way Through an Anticipated Tome-since
Theu Thoy Have Reciined in = Cardboard
Bo1 and Rave Feasted on stale nread.
Pest OF tho muses., devourer OF pages, in crannies
that lurkest,
Fruit OF the muses. to faint. labor of learning to
spoili
H~hsreforc, oh, biack.neshed worml vert thou born
for the evil thou workest2
wherefore thine own foul form shapest thou, with
snvious toii7
Thus does Andrew Lang apostrophlEe the
book worm-an insect so raro that many believe
him to belong to the same mythical category as
he phoenix and the roo; so rare that, when he Is
found, bibliophiles regard him with almost the
,amo reverence as the tones into which no bur
ovs. A very few book worms have boon found
N this city, but the only ones that havo been
kept alive. 30 far as 10 knowp, are three speci-
mems In the possession of the Lenox Library,
and now two OF these scem to be losing their
grip on life. Their appetite is poor. their move
nents sluggish. and when examined yesterday
they lay on their backs, half curled up. and it
was impossible to tell whether they were dead
VI alive. The third one. busily engaged upon q
bit OF stale bread. appeared to be normal in the
natter Of appetite.
These book worms are probably of tho species
becophora pseudospretella. The largest one 10 O
,cant one-eighth Of an inch long. the smallest q
generous one-sixtecnth. In color they are pale
bun, shading to q rich burntbrown on the back.
and look much like the white grubs which the
small boy digs up for bait, They have large
heads and little spiny legs. like the singing
ttars on a nettle leaf; how many. the reporter
vas unable to make out, being unprovided with
smagnifying glass. 1t Is now about two years
since they were discovered in a Leno1 Library
book and transferred to a cardboard box with a
PASSOVER, where they have been on exhibition
over since, with the mutilated volume beside
them as evidence of their work. Should they
die, the library would lose one OF its most inter
esting exhibits. Two OF them were found in tho
Same book; tho third in a separate volume,
wherein it had done very little work. There
may DO moro In tho library. but, II 80, not even
the traces of their appetite have been discov-
cred.
The habitat of the two irst discovered was a
arge yeiiu m. bound book on canonical law.
printed IN Antwerp in l64s. The book itself 10
after It's arrival, Chief Librarian Esmcs opened
y, ssl rna T fuii or B Boles, and no many w pcrfOrations IN
he pages of the book, Further investigation
b sSen0h Sol f6 q ne oas. !hP cannes cannes f haG ne @e@
,sen a book worm, but 4. he ... had heard n,f Of
5 s5sR'eFh he sht fosni a about ut' h hfsy p pesrfof r. ms
p Gme there was ;, hole eaten ter as bfs as the cap.
tai letter at the head Of this article. The second
p .iif}' snS sc on "a li sasil l's st e ,ho e sssn s5e fhi1d p 'sss
there was but one hole. There the more in.
dustrious Of the two insects had given up the
pursuit of literature and turned back.
Mr.. Eames did not at that time find the
workers of this mischief. Nor did he expect TO
turned to dust; but some weeks afterward.
taking the volume out to show It to a bibliophile,
one OF the perforations in the vellum cover.
There's the book worm now" said he to the
,"Wherei Whats That little thing .. cried
. the book lover In great excitement KIN it.
Eiye me a pin and IN stick it. thought they
why not Keep it alive r. said Mr.. Eames
Sf crT.s q y to = ss snTIbfosisy'Ib o and v ne gently Rs co traas
Another examination resulted in the discovery
was doubtful whether modern books would suit
that NO old ones could be sacrificed to them
Somebody in the library said that it was the
paste that the worms lived on.
Mr.. Esnes. SO has bread. II they can cal
A piece Of bread was put in tho box. The
two worms declined Lines to consider It for a time
s e%sy % R. thS ai dsy 5ellDTinF both taht S Se sh snri ssp IN II,
bread. They thrived and waved fat on It; A
found 1t in a Seventeenth century book of law
into which It had not penetrated, far. This
porter saw the specimens yesterday this on,
was half buried in rubbish at the angle o.
Mr., Eames poked them gently with q small
stick they rolled over on their backs. to all ap
bread. buried almost, out OF sight. ana aprsr
emily having the best Kind Of a time, Possibly
in one corner of the box was q small scarihca
ton, where one or more Of them had been whet
ting their teeth.
Mr.. Eames is not a little concerned over tn,
condition of his insect curios. In the absence o
any AUTHORITATIVE treatise upon book worms
IhPiF taEtnl hahita and thA haaf nnnIhn1a n
cultIvatlng them. he is forced to fail back upor
experimentation. For q beginning he is goinl
moisten the atmosphere. This. he thinks. ma!
make the mites a little more lively.
None OF us expected that they would live 81
long" Ii. said to a Sun reporter yesterday
to In. as ,tb they have 4S We should be extremely sorr!
Thought they might. / understand that il
the library at Cornell they are trying to breet
Success I do not o Know X those small mall obi" Objects M" Il
They are shells shed by these fellows."
In history and literature the boo's worm Is an
individual OF considerable prominence. Ever
ARISTOTLE had something to say about him and de
Greek was evidently ~dabbling In nyths. or hat
In mind another kind Of insect, for those mite
DO ike sirares: a person who is described a
the learned Mentzalius' has some ideas o
h's own upon the subject. In Al old account h
He saith he hath hoard tho book worm CROW
whether some local fowl was clamoring O
whether there was but a beating in mine ears
Even at that moment, all uncertain as / was.
perceived in the paper whereOn I was writinI
h,httlo insect that ceased not TO carol like a YER
ohanticleGr until, taking q magnifying glass,
asslduously observed him. He Is about the big
pssS Of a mite and carries q gray crest and tn
head low'bowed over the bosom. AS TO hi
growing noise. It comes of his clashinR his wing
against each other with an incessantd din"
Al! of which would cause 1t to appear tina
me learned ,;Mentzalius had either been "hit
ting the can that cheers less than IL inebriatet
or was infested with a dwarf katydid.