180 ON THE IXSECTS BY WHICH THE VINE IS INFESTED. 



the second. As it is certain that, in Europe at least, no serpent injures 

 the roots of plants, from the comparison of this passage of Pliny with 

 that of Aristotle we deduce the following facts : 



1st. That the larva of the insect named Spondyle by the Greeks was 

 known to the Latins, and that it devoured the roots of plants of every 

 kind. 



2nd. That this larva was very large, since it was compared to a small 

 serpent. 



We shall see hereafter the consequences deducible from these circum- 

 stances. 



It may perhaps be said that this long discussion on the word Spon- 

 dyle might have been omitted, because Pliny speaks only of the wild 

 vine, Vitis silvestris, which is not really the A'ine, nor has it any relation 

 to the plant producing grapes, but which was an annual, like the Aristo- 

 lochia, as Pliny himself informs us. To this I reply, that the vine is 

 included in the jjlants mentioned by Pliny as being exposed to the at- 

 tacks of the Spondyle, and that consequently anything relating to this 

 insect belongs strictly to my subject. 



[To be continued.] 



