1 62 The Scottish Naturalist. 



is probably no one among us now so thoroughly familiar as he was 

 with the native habitats of the rarer species of our Scottish flora. 

 He felt more attracted to the systematic study of Phanerogams 

 and to their geographical distribution than to the study of the 

 lower plants, or to vegetable anatomy and physiology, the depart- 

 ments of botany that have come most prominently forward of late 

 years. By many of those that listened to his instructions he will 

 long be remembered with respect and esteem. He was a Fellow 

 of numerous Scientific Societies, amongst others, of the Royal 

 Societies of Edinburgh and of London. 



" Report of Observations of Injurious Insects in the Year 1882, with 

 Methods of Prevention and Remedy, and Special Report on Wire worm." 

 By Miss E. A. Ormerod. 



Probably every one interested in the very important practical subject of 

 entomology in its practical side, as making us acquainted with the insects 

 injurious to the produce of the farm, the garden, the orchard, or the forest, is 

 acquainted favourably with Miss Ormerod's excellent little " Manual of In- 

 jurious Insects ," and probably a good many are familiar also with the annual 

 reports issued by her. In these very useful reports we find a record of 

 numerous observations made in many parts of the United Kingdom, along 

 with suggestions as to the results of experiments carried on with the object of 

 destroying the unwelcome visitors to the crops of all kinds. Several of the 

 contributors of observations to these reports write from Scotland, from the 

 Borders to the Orkney Islands, hence we feel specially called on to direct the 

 attention of our readers to whom the reports may not be known, to their 

 practical interest and value. Leaving a full acquaintance with the information 

 in it to be gained by consulting the report itself, we may here briefly advert to 

 the notes of special interest from Scottish observers. Mr. Dunn, of Dalkeith 

 Palace Gardens, recommends strongly the application of a thick lather of soft 

 soap to kill the American blight on apple trees. Mr. Dunn forwarded to 

 Miss Ormerod maggots which had been very destructive to cabbages, and from 

 these Anthomyia floraiis Fall, was reared. Notes on the Carrot fly {Psila\Ros(z) 

 are sent from Rothesay and Mull. There is a report of 41 pages on Wirervorm 

 and Click Beetle stating results of observations of injuries done (in a good 

 many of the cases in Scotland), and of the means tried and found most effective 

 in reducing their numbers. The Gooseberry saufly was, as usual, destructive 

 in various places, but the usual remedy of hellebore powder was in all cases 

 found sufficient to get rid of them. lortrix viridana is noted by Mr. R. 

 Coupar as very injurious to oaks near Colenden, Perthshire. Onion flies 

 {Anthomyia antiqv.a and A. platura) have proved destructive to onions at 

 Dalkeith and in Mull. Mr. Dunn found a dressing of dry soot and lime close 

 around the plants an effectual remedy, when repeated two or three times. Mr. 

 Grierson recommends burning the onions when attacked, and watering the 

 ground with paraffin and water. Mr. Coupar, writing from Old Scone, in 

 Perthshire, notes that the Pine beetle {Hylurgus piniperda) has been observed 

 by himself laying its eggs in shoots of pine trees, but that in every case the trees 

 were in a sickly state before the attack. He has also noticed that the branches 

 have suffered much from the attacks of the larvae of the Pine-bud Torlrix 

 (Retinia turionana), eating out the centre of the young shoots. He also 

 forwarded to the author two fine cones of the common spruce, with the bases of 

 the scales galled by a small midge-larva {Cecidomyia sp., perhaps C. albiltbris). 

 Mr. D. Scott, from near Forres, has seen considerable destruction caused for 

 several years by the Pine saufly to firs ; the application of a solution of wash- 

 ing soda in water destroyed them, but is hardly manageable as a remedy on the 

 necessary scale. The Turnip flies (Phyllotreta nemorum and P. undulata) have 

 done little damage in 1882, but the Saufly and IVeevil have been injurious in 

 Caithness. 



