HARDWICKE'S SCIEN CE-G OSSIP. 



173 



forth, — may be seen in Aldrovand, Senuertus in his 

 ' Hypomnemata,' Michael Meyerus, who hath 

 written an entire book concerning the tree-fowl, 

 and many others. But that all these stories are 

 false and fabulous, I am confidently persuaded. 

 Neither do tliese want sufficient arguments to 

 induce the lovers of truth to be of our opinion, and 

 to convince the gainsayers. For in the whole genus 

 of birds (excepting the phoenix, whose reputed 

 original is without doubt fabulous) there is not any 

 one example of equivocal or spontaneous generation. 

 Among other animals indeed, the lesser and more 

 imperfect,— as for example many insects and frogs, — 

 are commonly thought either to be of spontaneous 

 original or to come of different seeds and principles. 

 Eut the greater animals and perfect in their kinds, 

 such as is among birds the goose, no philosophers 

 would ever admit to be in this manner produced." 



An old writer, Salmon, in his "English Phy- 

 sician," published in 1693, reviews the evidence on 

 both sides, and ingeniously reconciles both theories. 

 He cannot doubt that they are at first spontaneously 

 bred, and at the same time does not deny that they 

 increase and multiply in the usual manner after- 

 wards. 



How all these wonderful stories arose it is dif- 

 ficult to imagine ; their origin is lost in the mists 

 of antiquity, and it is in vain to speculate. Certain 

 it is that but for the serious manner in which they 

 are related, and the known veracity of tiie authors 

 in whose works they occur, we should be inclined 

 to accept these stories as mere flights of the imagin- 

 ation ; and to accuse Sir 11. Murray of " poking fun 

 at us " when he tells of the perfectly-shaped and 

 coloured liitle geese he found in the shells attached 

 to the tree-stump which had been so long out of 

 the water that it had become " very dry," and the 

 shells not already worn or rubbed off were doubt- 

 less in a very advanced state of decomposition. 



T. S. 



A FEW NOTES ON THE APHIDES. 



"VTEVER within my memory have I observed the 

 -^* Aphides (commonly called Plant-lice) so abun- 

 dant as this spring ; in fact, every tree, plant, and 

 flower is covered with them. How hated they are 

 by those who are fond of floriculture, and even by 

 the most listless, who in plucking a flower, find the 

 nasty effect of their sticky juices! There is 

 not a plant but can boast of their company, and 

 can show more or less the evils of it. The aphis 

 most generally remarked is the one that feeds on 

 roses. It is a bright-green colour, has an oval body, 

 and a small head, which is furnished with a pair of 

 bright scarlet eyes. Its antennje are long and fine, 

 and reach almost to the two tube-like appendages 

 on the extremity of its back. It has six legs, which 



are long and thin, each of which is terminated with 

 two short hooks, with which it can cling in a 

 marvellous manner to whatever plant it happens to 

 get on. When looking at the aphis on a plant, one 

 would think, from its tranquillity, that it was doing 

 no harm ; but then, on examining it with a magni- 

 fying glass, it will be seen that it has a long pro- 

 boscis, with which it has pierced the tender shoot, 

 and is feasting on the sap which ought otherwise to 

 nourish the plant. When looking at a large aphis 

 the other day, which was settled on a currant-leaf, 

 I was much surprised to see the insect very uneasy, 

 but soon the cause was made apparent by the fact 

 of its having given birth to a little one, which clung to 

 its mother in an affectionate manner, and regaled 

 itself on the juice that came from the syrup-tubes of 

 its parent. I disengaged it with some difficulty, as 

 I wished to see if it could crawl. This it did, and 

 went and joined the smaller ones of its species on 

 the same leaf. Various are the colours of the aphi- 

 des that infest lime-trees, elms, elder, apple-trees, 

 hop plants, &c. ; but any reader of Science-Gossip 

 can examine these easily. It has often been argued 

 whether the aphides ever lay eggs : this they most 

 undoubtedly do, and the time is probably in autumn. 

 From these will spring the insects which are to be 

 the ancestors of succeeding generations in spring 

 and summer. When looking at a dahlia that had 

 many of these insects on it, I observed numbers of 

 black ants running up and down the stem of the 

 plant. Having heard of their being able to " milk " 

 the aphides, I watched for the performance. This 

 I saw very cunningly performed. The ant very 

 cautiously approached the aphis, which had the 

 antenna; laid flat on its back (lor those that had 

 theirs up always crawled away), began with its an- 

 tennae to tickle the hinder part of the aphis, first 

 slowly, and then quickly. This had the effect of 

 pleasing the insect so much that it squirted out a 

 few drops of the much-coveted liquid ; this the ant 

 seized on, and having devoured it, proceeded to do 

 likewise to some others, witii the same success, and 

 thus satiated its appetite. It might be thought 

 that, as tlie aphides are such small insects, they 

 cannot do much harm ; but their immense 

 numbers, and the quickness with which they in- 

 crease, will furnish, I think, clear evidence against 

 them. If they were not kept within bounds, and 

 prevented from over-multiplying by birds, insects, 

 and their other enemies, all vegetation would suffer 

 to a fearful extent. They must be possessed of 

 some powerfully acrid fluid in their proboscis, as on 

 many plants tliat they attack the leaves are found 

 to be crumpled up and contorted in a curious man- 

 ner. On examining the back of the leaf, a colony 

 of aphides will sure to be found. This subject is 

 so interesting that any one beginning to investigate 

 into it is led on to make further inquiries about an 

 insect which, although well known by general ap- 



