132 



Now its advent in England, a century after it was brought to this 

 country, has caused a good deal of discussion, and while I was over there 

 last autumn I found that not only British agriculturists, but theBritish 

 public generally were intensely interested in the subject and quite 

 agitated as to the prospects in the future. 



Three points particularly interest the grain grower as well as scien- 

 tific men, viz, the date when the insect was actually imported into 

 England, the country it was introduced from, and the prospects from 

 its work in the future. 



I had occasion to consider all of these points at some length in the 

 London Times for <.)ctober 17 last, but in this connection have time only 

 to say that as to the first point there is likely to be the same contro- 

 versy as there has been in reference to the periods of its importation 

 into America, and just as all the facts point to the latter event about 

 the time of the Revolutionary war, so the evidence points conclusively 

 to its very recent advent into England. One of the strongest oppo- 

 nents of the view that the specie.s was imported into this country by 

 Hessians has been Dr. H. A. Hagen, of Cambridge, and though his 

 arguments have some weight from the historic side they are weak from 

 the biologic side, as they do not take into account the exceptional 

 tendency to behited or retarded development which the species exhibits 

 in the puparium state. 



There was no way of definitely ascertaining from what country the 

 insect was really introduced into England, but by a study of the para- 

 sites which had so far been detected in England. Hence I was urged 

 while there last year to examine such j)arasites as had been reared 

 there. 



This material was submitted by Miss Ormerod, Professor Fream, Lord 

 Walsingham, Mr. O. E. Janson, Mr. Fred. Enock, Mr. F. M.Campbell, 

 and others who interested themselves in the subject and were anxious 

 for determinations. 



A study of these parasites enabled me to identify them as Plntygas- 

 ter minutus Lind., Semiotellus nigripes Lind., Eupelmus karschii Lind., 

 Merisus intermedius Lind., Tetrasticlius IvileyiJjmd., Euryscapiis saltator 

 Lind., Dacni/sa senilis Hal.; and while the material that was placed 

 in my hands will require some little revision of a paper which I have 

 already published on the parasites of the 8i)ecies in America, yet they 

 are all essentially European and i)oint unmistakably to the importation 

 toEuglandfrom the continent of Euro[)e. The negativeevidence,sofar 

 as it goes, confirms this, because statistics show that from 2 to 3 i)er 

 cent, of the straw imported into England comes from America, and the 

 im[)ortatiou has not been made through the chief ports of entry of 

 American vessels, such as Liverpool. In fact the species has not yet 

 been found in Ireland or on the western coast of England, being con- 

 fined, as already remarked, to the east coast. 



In reference to the third ijoiut, viz, the future injury that is likely to 



