2t|4 Mr.'iA.\-R.%i\.KyCsOhfervcJiions onihe IiifedJs 



" anrl gathered fuch as I thought appeared to anfwer bed to your 

 " defcription of dileafed ears, and brought them home for invcf- 

 " tigation. From your account of the deftruQive properties of this 

 " httle infcil, I expetted to find it buried in the very heart of the 

 " grain, after having eaten its way thither ; but, to my great fatif- 

 *' faclion, no fuch thing has yet occurred; and, from what I have 

 " hitherto obfcrved, I have great doubt with refpciSt to its deJiruSllve 

 *' properties. This opinion may perhaps furprife you ; and my own 

 -" future obfervations, as well as thofc of your more fkilful and 

 *' learned friends, may poffibly prove me in an error; but my rea- 

 " fons for thinking fo at prefent are, that when in the field the crop 

 " appeared to be very fine, and Ihad great difficulty in finding any 

 " ears that I fuppofed to be difeafed. In fome few ears I found the 

 " infe6t lodged between the hulks or outward fcales of the calyx ; 

 " nay, even in thofe where 1 found the infe6t, the grain itfelf did 

 *' not appear to have received any injury, only the hulk feemed 

 " rather difcoloured. I think I have difcovered this little infeft 

 " both in the larva and chryfalh flate ; but it is fo minute, that I 

 •' will not be pofitive whether what I took for the chryjalis was not 

 " a dead infeft. I have placed all that I have yet found in an open 

 *' box, along with fome ears of wheat, and covered it with fine 

 " gauze, to prevent the fly, or perfect infedV, from efcaping, when it 

 " comes forth. If I fhould be fo fortunate as to fucceed in this, 

 " or can make any further obfervations towards inveffigating the 

 " natural hiflory of this little animal, you may depend on hearing 

 " from me again. It is with great pleafure that I can, I believe 

 " with truth, inform you, that our wheat in general is very fine 

 " this year, the grain large and full, and a profpe(5l of its yielding 

 " well when it comes to be threfhed." 



In a letter dated Oft. i, 1795, ^^ fame gentleman adds, " I was 



" in hopes that I fhould have been able to trace the minute infe6l 



7 " which 



