105 



bug'," which we reproduce below in its entirety. There is little doubt, 

 from the description of the insect, as chunk}' and not flying, that he 

 has reference to the common squash bug, a well-known enemy of 

 pumpkin and squash vines. It is probable that General Gage did not 

 have a very extensive knowledge of entomology, and judged this 

 insect to be more destructive than it really was, owing to its somewhat 

 disgusting- appearance and still more displeasing odor. The following 

 is in reference to one of the Entomologist's lectures delivered at the 

 Lowell Institute during the month of January: 



In common with all your auditors I have been pleased and instructed with your 

 heart and head talks on insect life. I was waiting all the time to hear of one of my 

 old enemies, the Gage bugs. You may have mentioned them in your second lecture, 

 which I missed. They may have been the Hessian fly, but if my memory serves 

 they came with them, but were more chunky, and did not fly. I was reminded of 

 them when in your first lecture you said that people often named pests after what 

 they diyliked, as the French weed in English-speaking Canada and the Abe Lincoln 

 bug in Georgia. So too with the Gage bug. The old man who brought me up was 

 an Alden but five generations from the historic John. He used to tell me in hoeing 

 time (in the late 50's and early 60's of the century that was) that General Gage after 

 the battle of Bunker Hill, finding he could not " whip us," went up on the hill the 

 next day and, opening his snuff box, let out the bugs that we were then killing on 

 our pumpkin and squash vines. He would describe most lucidly the battle before 

 telling the story, and so I never stooped to "squash" a Gage bug in those days 

 without seeing a general in red on a high hill, snuff box in hand, out of which 

 issued a living line of pestilence as the bugs swarmed in perspective,down the thir- 

 teen colonies. Such was a lesson in natural and political history of an old-time 

 Yankee to an Irish boy forty years ago. 



THE PROBABILITY OF THE OCCURRENCE OF THE MEXICAN COTTON-BOLL 



WEEVIL IN BRAZIL. 



We have received information leading toward the conclusion that 

 the cotton-boll weevil {Anthonomus grandls Boh,), or an insect of very 

 similar habits, has been present for some years in the cotton regions 

 of Brazil, notabl}^ in the State of Bahia. Professor d'Utra, director 

 of the State agricultural station of Sao Paulo, has written a rather 

 extensive article upon this subject, in which he considers that there is 

 no doubt that the insect is Anthonomus grandis (Boletin de Agricul- 

 tura, 2d ser., No. 4, pp. 211-229, 1901). In our efforts to obtain 

 specimens we have been favored by Prof. Adolph Hempel, of the same 

 station, with the information that, although there may be some uncer- 

 tainty about the identification, the fact remains that in the State of 

 Bahia there occurs a small beetle that lives in the cotton bolls, espe- 

 cially within the seeds. This describes exactly the method of work of 

 the boll weevil in southern Mexico and Central America, as noted b}^ 

 Townyend, though in Texas it never .occurs within the seeds. 



In the absence of specimens only speculations regarding this mat- 

 ter are to be indulged in. There is, however, an authentic record of 



