250 EEPOKT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



at their second point of contact, viz, in northern Georgia. The exist- 

 ence of Brood VII, in Georgia, is based upon Dr. Smith's unpublished 

 "Kogister," iu which he records the Cicada in 1846 a.nd 1859 in ilxa coun- 

 f ics of Do Kalb, Gwinnett, and Kewton. In 1872 none of these counties 

 were heard from, and in 1885 a single correspondent (Mr. E. M. Wynn, 

 i)f Alto, Banks County) refers to two of tbem (De Kalb and Gwinnett), 

 bat in such a way as to connect them with the belt or belts undoubtedly 

 occupir'd by Brood XXII in Georgia. Want of space prevents fuller 

 consideration here of this interesting question, and for the present we 

 leave tliese three counties attached to Brood VII. 



In this connection we would finally mention that northeastern Ala- 

 liama may also be claimed by either brood. All information received 

 in 18S5 from that State was of a negative character, excepting the fol- 

 lowing two statements: Judge J. F. Bailey, of Marion, has heard that 

 the Cicada has been seen in June " in some of the counties iu the north- 

 east part of the State; " and Mr. John W. Inzer, of Ashville, Saint Clair 

 County, had been informed by reliable authority that they had appeared 

 in June in a si)ecified locality in his county, l)ut that he did not see them 

 himself. In the absence of any previous record it is impossible to say 

 to which of the two broods these two statements refer, and we have 

 deemed it best at present not to mark the locality down on the map. 



Geographical distrihntion of Brood VII. — Of the seven broods known 

 to exist of the lo year race, this Brood VIl is only surpassed in extent by 

 Brood XVIII (1881 and 1894), the remaining broods * beingmuch smaller. 

 Its main seat is the Mississippi Valley, extending northwaid a little be- 

 yond the thirty-ninth parallel, or a little north of the mouth of the Mis- 

 souri, and southward a little beyond the thirty-first parallel. To judge 

 from the sum of the records received in 1885 the brood is by far more 

 generally distributed and more numerous on the east side of the Missis- 

 sippi Valley than on the west side. Its most compact body is in Ten- 

 nessee, where the Cicadas have been reported as extremely numerous 

 in every county west of the Tennessee River. In Mississippi they were 

 equally abundant in the section watered by the Yazoo Kiver and its 

 affluents from the northern line of the State south to Vicksburg, tbe 

 brood then crossing the Mississippi and occupying several counties on 

 the Louisiana side. Another distinct belt follows the Pearl River from 

 the center of the State, extending into Louisiana. Between Pearl River 

 and the Mississippi the Cicadas also occupied several counties; but the 

 statement, derived from previous reports, that the brood is generally 

 distributed through eastern Mississippi has not been corroborated ; Iu 

 fact, with the exception of the northeastern corner, nothing was heard 

 of Cicadas in the eastern portion of the State. Southern Louisiana is 

 entirely free from the Cicada (excepting localities along Pearl River),- 

 and the reported localities from the other sections form a compact area 

 in the northeastern corner, and a smaller detached area in the north- 

 western corner along Red River, the locabtj being supported by another 

 ncMxr by on the Arkansas side. In the latter State, as well as in Mis- 

 souri, the reported localities, besides those along th-e Mississippi, are 

 very much scattered and isolated ; but since the Cicadas were, as a rule, 

 not very numerous in the more northern sections, it is possible that the 

 brood has not been generally observed, except by persons especially 

 interested in this Cicada matter. In Illinois the brood occupies only 

 counties along the Mississippi. From Kentucky the reports are remark- 

 ftlDly scarce, but we ought to suppose the Cicada common between the 



• One or two of tliese are by no means so well established as could be desired. 



