30 



JOUBNAL OP HOETICULTDRE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEB. 



I July 30, 1878. 



towne, and Dorithie his wyfe, daughter of Sir Henry Wil- 

 loughby, KQt., and dame jlawde his last wife, one of the 

 daughters and heyres of Richard Coton of Hampstall Rydware 

 epquier, by which he had five sonnesand five daughters, which 

 Sir Anthony deceased the xxvii. of May, an' Dni. 1538, and 

 the said Mawde." That inscription did not even record, as is 

 usual, the date of the deceased's birth, nor has there since 

 been published any memoir worthy of him who was the author 

 of some of the best of the early law books, who was the un- 

 flinching opponent of the despotic measures of Woleey when 

 at the zenith of his power, and, as we have noted, the earliest 

 writer on tillage. It is not within our province to detail all 

 the dates and events of his biography, but as we have searched 

 for and gleaned them fullv, we will record a few of the prin- 

 cipal. Although the sixth sou, he survived all his brothers 

 and succeeded as the fourteenth lord to the manor of Norbary. 

 He was appointed .Justice of the Peace of Leicestershire, Lin- 

 colnshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire during the years 

 1509 and 1511, Serjeant in 1514, King's Serjeant in 1516, 

 Justice of Assize on 'the northern circuit in 1518, and a Judge 

 of the Common Pleas in 15'22. He was one of the visitors of 

 monasteries, but he opposed their sequestration, and on his 

 deathbed exhorted his children not to accept or purchase any 

 of the abbey lands. 



The titles of his two works entitling him to our notice in 

 these pages are, " A new tracte or treatyse moost prfytable 

 for all husbide men ;" and " The boke of surveyenge and im- 

 prouvemotes." 



In the Exhibition of National Portraits was one of Sir An- 

 thony Fitzherbert. It is the property of Sir WiUiam Fitz- 

 herbert, Bart., of Tissington Hull, Derbyshire, and from a 

 photogriiph of that portrait our engraving is taken. 



APHIS, OR GREEN FLY. 



The various species of Aphidfe differ very considerably both 

 in colour and form, but taking the Rose aphis as a type, we 

 find it of flask-like form, somewhat resembling a minute ani- 

 mated soda-water bottle set upon long and slender legs. Its 

 head is small, deflexed beneath, and closely set upon the 

 thorax. The proboscis, which is placed so far back as almost 

 to appear to be attached to the thorax, is somewhat inflexed, 

 and is composed of the mandibles and maxillio, which are very 

 Blender and elongated, inclosed in the labium, which is formed 

 into a canal of four joints, the last of which is well adapted to 

 piercing vegetable tissues. The labium is long and pointed. 

 The antenna' are long, composed of six joints ; the two basal 

 stout and oblong (the first stoutest, the second short and 

 stout), the third longest with u-regular warty projections. The 

 remaining joints are shorter than the third, and do not differ 

 materially from each other in length; the last is slightly 

 forked near the base. The eyes are entire, prominent, and 

 semi-globose, consisting of about two hundred and fifty facets, 

 and containing a dark red pigment. The simple eyes (when 

 they exist) are three in number, and form a large obtuse 

 triangle ; but in many species I think the simple eyes are 

 absent, especially in the wingless members of the species, 

 whilst in winged females, if not absent, they are often very 

 rudimentary. The thorax is oval, with the prothorax forming 

 a transverse collar. The abdomen is " elongate-conic," and 

 on the fifth segment is furnished with an elongated tubercle 

 or pap on either side ; these tubercles are somewhat scaly 

 towards the termination, the end is trumpet-shaped, and from 

 them there at times exudes a clear, alkahne, saccharine fluid. 

 Situated by the anus I believe there is an organ which I should 

 be inclined to look upon as a pygidium ; in some species, how- 

 ever, this is more marked than in others. The legs, six in 

 number, are long, especially the hinderinost pair ; the tarsi are 

 two-jointed, the first joint being shorter than the second, at 

 the end of which aro two hooked claws. By far the greater 

 number of aphida; are wingless. The winged members aro 

 usually (though irregularly) more marked with black, especially 

 on the thorax and abdomen ; the thorax is larger, and projects 

 more above the abdomen, which is usually smaller, even in the 

 winged females. The wings are four in number, the anterior 

 pair much larger than the posterior; when at rest they are 

 placed nearly perpendicularly on the sides of the body. The 

 anterior have a strong subcostal nerve terminating neai- the 

 apex in a broad stigma, and giving off three oblique nerves, 

 the last of which is forked twice ; on the posterior edge is a 

 membrane, to which, when in use, three minute booklets, 

 situated near the .npex of the posterior wings, attach them- 



selves. The posterior wings are small, with two oblique 

 nerves and the booklets just mentioned. 



Mueli has, I beUeve, been said and written upon the repro- 

 duction of these insects; but, as far as I am aware, all 

 authorities are agreed that in the spring, the warming Bun, 

 and atmosphere generally, act upon the minute red or black 

 eggs laid by the insects on twigs and branches in the previous 

 autumn. In due course the eggs are hatched, and the young 

 aphis emerges %vingless ; after changing its skin some three or 

 perhaps four times, it commences, without interposition of a 

 male, to give birth to living wingless young, who in their turn 

 become mothers, and so the lineage descends to the tenth 

 generation. I believe some difference of opinion prevails as to 

 the number of generations that may transpu-e before a winged 

 member appears. I am inclined to look upon the number as 

 irregular, but have given the number which I have bred myself, - 

 which I think corresponds with Bonnet's observations.^ The 

 tenth lineal descendent, at its bh-th, appears similar to its pre- 

 decessors, but at the last change but one of its skin it possesses 

 rudimentary wings, whilst on the final change taking place, 

 the wings become fuUy developed. The general impression 

 appears to be that the winged insects are the perfect male and 

 female, appearing only in the autumn, and that the winged 

 females produce eggs onlv, and that after having intercourse 

 with a male. I believe this is correct so far, that winged 

 insects are usually more numerous in the autumn, and at that 

 period many of the females are unproductive until they have 

 intercourse with a male, after which they lay eggs. But 

 winged females do exist throughout the summer, though 

 possibly less numerous than in the autumn, and they do not 

 lay eggs, but produce living young without the interposition of 

 a male : moreover, they produce young during the larval and 

 pupal stages, the young never becoming winged. i>ut Uving and 

 multiplying in the manner usual with aphides. I have known 

 eggs to hatch the same autumn that they were laid, in conse- 

 quence, 1 believe, of warm weather setting in after some weeks 

 of cold. As aphides die off in cold weather, I regard the lay- 

 ing of eggs simply as a means of preserving the species for the 

 following year ; the times when these eggs are laid I consider 

 to be dep'endent upon temperature and atmospheric changes. 

 The multipUcation of these insects must naturally be very 

 large, although different statements are made as regards the 

 average rate at which young are produced ; one authority says 

 it is about three per diem, whilst another authority states the 

 average rate of production to be fourteen per diem. Schrank, 

 starting from Bonnet's observations, calculates the progeny of 

 a single aphis during one summer at •23,740,000; whilst 

 Reaumur says the offspring of a single aphis will amount to 

 5,904,000,000. I will offer no comment on these large figures, 

 but as regards the daily average I may say I have never 

 observed any aphis that produced young every day, those I 

 have watched having brought forth litters, if I niay be allowed 

 the expression, at intervals of from three t:. tve days, thn 

 litter consisting of from eight to fourteen individuals ; and I 

 believe the periods of production and number of young, are 

 considerably influenced by temperature, Ac. In wingless 

 females I have frequently counted from thirty to fifty young 

 in various stages of development, whilst twenty to thirty 

 appears to be about the limits of young in the winged indi- 

 viduals. 



Aphides are generally looked upon as being exceedingly 

 stupid, and devoid of maternal feehng. Although general ap- 

 pearances are against their possessmg much attachment for 

 their young, I have seen instances where theur actions would 

 seem to show at least some care for their offspring. When the 

 sap fails in any particular branch or leaf upon which a family 

 has been feeding, I have seen the parent emigrating with her 

 family on her back and clinging to her antenna. I was rather 

 curious to see if this was at the wiU of the parent, the caprice 

 of the children, or by mutual consent ; and to this end I took 

 a mother, who was walking along with four of her children on 

 her back, and placed them separately on a glass slip on the 

 stage of my microscope, parent and offspring being close 

 together. The mother immediately extended one of her front 

 legs, so as to form an inchued plane, by means of which the 

 little ones mounted, three to her back, and one climbed on to 

 her antenna;. With a fine camel's-hair brush I then removed 

 two of the young from their resting-plaee. The mother, ap- 

 parently as soon as she became aware of the loss she had sus- 

 tained, commenced walking in a serpentine manner across the 

 slip, with her antenna' close to the surface of the glass ; she 

 shortly found her lost little ones, whim the same process of as- 



