THE CURCULIO. 



PLATE VIII. 



1. A twig from a Plum Tree that had been profusely washed, or syringed, with what has been called the 



" Whale-Oil Soap Mixture." 

 2.2.2. Three Plums on this twig, painted exactly as they appeared June 24th, 1863, eac h Plum showing that 



it had received a portion of the mixture in the general syringing that the tree had been subjected to. 

 3. A Curculio as seen at work at the time. 



PEOPLE who have had the fewest opportunities of acquiring information on the 

 subject of medicine, and who are often totally ignorant of the science, are those 

 most likely to be the dupes of quacks ; and the vast sums received by the publishers 

 of newspapers for inserting quack advertisements, testify to the number of such 

 victims. 



On the subject of Insects nearly all, educated and uneducated, are alike ignorant. 

 Few have the time, still fewer the inclination, to devote much thought to such a 

 subject; and those who do, usually study it strictly as a science. They arrange 

 insects in orders, classes, families, genera, and species. They learn their Latin 

 names, and what those names signify -in fact, become entomologists. Such people 

 are often enthusiastic collectors of insects, and much of their time is pleasantly 

 employed in arranging them in cabinets. The discovery of an undescribed species is 

 as gratifying to an entomologist, as the finding of a new plant to a botanist, or a new 

 fish to Agassiz. But these investigators seldom inquire which are the useful or 

 which the injurious. 



Others become interested in studying the habits or instincts of particular classes. 

 The elder Huber spent forty years in the study of Bees and Ants alone, and left the 

 subject unfinished. But his works have made many friends for these two species, 

 who are continuing the investigation, and the general interest in them is constantly 

 increasing. The great work of Kirby and Spence has made a friend to insect investi- 

 gations of every one who has read it. 



In our country, Harris and Fitch have laid broad foundations for usefulness 



