Air, CuRTis's Oh/iUValioKi cu /Iphuiei, 8t 



In moil: fpecics of Aphides both males and females acquire uTiigs 

 at certain feaions; but in this refpciEl they aic fubject to great vari- 

 ation, there being feme males and feme females that never have 

 wings; again, there are fome females that become winged, while 

 others of the fame fpecies do not. 



In the quahty of the excrement voided by thefc infects there is 

 fomething wonderfully extraordinary. Were a perfon accidentally 

 to take up a book in which it was gravely alfcrted that in fomc 

 countries there were certain animals which voided Hquid fugar, he 

 would foon lay it down, regarding it as a fabulous tale, calculated 

 to impofe on the credulity of the ignorant; and yet fuch is hterallv 

 the truth. 



The fupcrior fize of the Aphhfalkis will enable the mod common 

 obferver to fatisfy himfelf on this head. On looking 1 ted fad ly for 

 a few minutes at a group of thefe inletfls while feeding on the bark 

 of the willow, one perceives a few of them elevate their bodies, and 

 a tranfparent fubftance evidently drop from them, which is imme- 

 diately followed by a fimilar motion and dilcharge like a fmall Ihower 

 from a great number of others. At fird I was not aware that the 

 fubftance thus dropping from thefe animals at fuch dated intervals 

 was their excrement, but was convinced of its being fo afterwards ; 

 for, on a more accurate examination, I found it to proceed from the 

 extremity of the abdomen, as is ufual in other infects. On placing 

 a piece of >vriting-paper under a mafs of thefc infecls, it foon be- 

 came thickly fpotted ; holding it a longer time, the ipcts united from 

 the addition of others, and the wiiole furface afTumed a gloffy ap- 

 pearance. I taded this fubllance, and found it to be as fwect as 

 fu<:;ar, I had the lefs hefitation in doing this, having obfcrvcd that 

 wafps, ants, flies, and infects without number, devoured it as 

 quickly as it was produced : but, were it not for thefe, it might no 

 doubt be collcded in confiderablc quantities, and, if fubje6ted to the 

 Vol. VL M praceffeS 



