RAVAGES OP THE APATE RASILI.ARIS. 9 



to which he was destined by nature. When many small holes are ob- 

 served on the surface of a tree, it is a proof that the perfect insects have 

 left it ; but where few holes are seen, it shows that the robber has just 

 entered. His vitality is astonishing ; you may cut down the tree which 

 he has attacked, immerse it in water, and cover it with snow or ice, and 

 the villainous marauder will continue fresh and vigorous. 



I said that the injury which this insect is capable of doing, has been 

 grievously felt in Europe. Nearly all the large German forests have 

 suffered from what is called the loonn rof, and in the old prayer books, 

 these insects as well as the Turks, are devoutly commended to the ex- 

 terminating vengeance of Divine Providence. Even as early as 1665, 

 their ravages were alarming, and at that time the only secure method of 

 saving the wood was adopted, of cutting down the trees as soon as at- 

 tacked and removing all the bark. In the beginning of the last century, 

 this plague raged for several years successively in the Hartz mountains, 

 and it reached such a fearful height in 1769, that whole forests lost their 

 foliage by the death of the trees. In 1775 — 1777, it was still worse, 

 but instead of seeking some remedy, naturalists learnedly discussed the 

 question, whether the insect was the cause or consequence of the ca- 

 lamity. The fanatical thought that this judgment of heaven ought to 

 be endured with pious resignation, and many discovered that it had been 

 prognosticated by the last comet ! In 1778, the plague somewhat aba- 

 ted, but the next year, after a dry summer, it increased again most aw- 

 fully. The inhabitants of the Hartz were threatened with destruction, 

 as it was supposed that their mining operations would necessarily stop. 

 Various remedies were suggested; the pastors advised a fast-day, the 

 apothecaries recommended a succession of cathartic powders which 

 would create a contagions diarrhea, and thus exterminate the intruders; 

 a philosopher proposed to kill millions of them by an electric shock; 

 one was for cutting off the trees at the top of the trunk, and another for 

 burning down the forests. Finally an expedient was adopted, which, if 

 it had been applied at an earlier period, would have diminished the evil. 

 All the wood attacked by the insect was put to some use, instead of be- 

 ing suffered to lie and breed the enemy. Immense quantities of char- 

 coal were burnt, saw mills were built, and all other means employed for 

 putting the wood to some proper use. In subsequent years, similar 

 scenes were witnessed in Europe, and no efficient remedy has been dis- 

 covered. May our forests ever be preserved from the incurable ravages 

 of this noxious beetle ! J. G. M. 



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