ant, while Nares considers that ebony is meant.[566]

[566] See Douce's "Illustrations of Shakespeare;" Nares's
"Glossary," vol. i. p. 412; Beisly's "Shakespeare's Garden," p. 4.

From certain ancient statutes it appears that every Englishman, while
archery was practised, was obliged to keep in his house either a bow of
yew or some other wood.[567]

[567] Singer's "Shakespeare," vol. iv. p. 427. See a paper in
the "Antiquary" (1882, vol. vi. p. 13), by Mr. George Black, on
the yew in Shakespearian folk-lore.

CHAPTER IX.

INSECTS AND REPTILES.

As Dr. Johnson has truly remarked, Shakespeare is "the poet of nature,"
for "his attention was not confined to the actions of men; he was an
exact surveyor of the inanimate world; his descriptions have always some
peculiarity, gathered by contemplating things as they really exist.
Whether life or nature be his subject, Shakespeare shows plainly that he
has seen with his own eyes." So, too, he was in the habit of taking
minute observation of the popular notions relating to natural history,
so many of which he has introduced into his plays, using them to no
small advantage. In numerous cases, also, the peculiarities of certain
natural objects have furnished the poet with many excellent metaphors.
Thus, in "Richard II." (ii. 3), Bolingbroke speaks of "the caterpillars
of the commonwealth;" and in "2 Henry VI." (iii. 1) the Duke of York's
reflection on the destruction of his hopes is,

"Thus are my blossoms blasted in the bud,
And caterpillars eat my leaves away,"

their destructive powers being familiar.

_Ant._ An ancient name for the ant is "pismire," probably a Danish word,
from _paid_ and _myre_, signifying such ants as live in hillocks. In "1
Henry IV." (i. 3) Hotspur says:

"Why, look you, I am whipp'd and scourg'd with rods,
Nettled, and stung with pismires, when I hear
Of this vile politician, Bolingbroke."

_Blue-bottle._ This well-known insect has often been used as a term of
reproach. Thus, in "2 Henry IV." (v. 4), it furnishes an epithet applied
by the abusive tongue of Doll Tearsheet to the beadle who had her in
custody. She reviles him as a "blue-bottle rogue," a term, says Mr.
Patterson,[568] "evidently suggested by the similarity of the colors of
his costume to that of the insect."

[568] "Insects Mentioned by Shakespeare," 1841, p. 181.

_Bots._ Our ancestors imagined that poverty or improper food e