THE SEVENTEEN-YEAR LOCUST 



1289 



numbers are rapidly growing less. One of the com- 

 paratively few insects upon which the English sparrow 

 feeds with avidity is the periodical cicada, and many 

 thousands of them are destroyed by sparrows each time 

 they make their appearance and before they lay their 

 eggs." One interested in cicadas should certainly read 

 this valuable account by Doctor Howard. According to 

 Lutz, the adults live only a week or so, "to recompense 

 them for the long period of preparation." 



Further on the same author remarks that "there are a 

 score, or more, of different broods, each of which has a 

 rather definite — often restricted— distribution and time 

 of emergence. Suppose there are three such broods in' 

 your neighborhood. One of them (that is, the adults) 

 may have appeared in 191 1; its next appearance would 

 be 1928. Another might be 1916, 1933, and so on. As a 

 matter of fact, these are actual broods, although they 

 may not be the ones of your neighborhood. However, the 

 example shows that we may have seventeen-year cicadas 

 oftener than every seventeen years, to say nothing of 

 the possibility of laggards or extra-spry individuals, in 

 various broods, which do not appear on schedule time." 



It has been pointed out that many thousands of these 

 cicadas came forth on the streets in Washington. This, 



be it noted, could only happen where the ground, for 

 seventeen years or a little more, had not been sealed 

 over, either by some structure or other having been 

 erected upon it, or by the making of cemented sidewalks" 

 and impenetrable roadways. As Washington very ex- 

 tensively encroached upon its former environs during the 

 time this brood of cicadas were enjoying the seventeen 

 years of subterranean existence, many hundreds of acres 

 being sealed over, it is apparent that all the cicadas in 

 those areas perhaps millions of them, could not come to 

 the surface at the appointed time, and thus perished at 

 the points where they arrived at such impassable bar- 

 riers. It is claimed that this factor of destruction will, 

 in time, exterminate this interesting insect — an idea that 

 surely is quite unbelievable ; though to a certain extent 

 it may keep their numbers down, as does the extensive 

 warfare waged upon them by the "English Sparrows" in 

 and about our cities. 



Extinction or no extinction ; war or no war ; sparrows 

 or no sparrows — in the month of May, 1936, common 

 reckoning, we shall, with absolute certainty, see an emerg- 

 ence of our seventeen-year cicada where the present 

 hordes have appeared. 



DR. FERNOW, DEAN OF FORESTERS, RETIRES 

 T\R. B. E. FERNOW, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry, 

 U University of Toronto, retired on July 1. Dr. Fer- 

 now intends to return to the United States and, if his 

 health permits, to continue his labors in authorship which 

 have already won him much distinction. The success of 

 the College of Forestry at Toronto mirrors Dr. Fernow's 

 unsparing giving of himself for the advancement of the 

 science of forestry in Canada. One cannot over-empha- 

 size the discouragements he met and overcame in found- 

 ing a new and unfamiliar branch of technical training, 

 the youngest of the engineering professions. As a Direc- 

 tor of the Canadian Forestry Association, Dr. Fernow 

 was a great believer in educational propaganda and assist- 

 ed it at every opportunity. 



He became Chief of the Division of Forestry, United 

 States Department of Agriculture, in 1886, a position 

 which he filled until 1898. In addition to his official 

 work, he was a constant promoter of all biological investi- 

 gations leading to a broader understanding of the prin- 

 ciples of forestry. In 1883 he was elected secretary of 

 the American Forestry Association, and also held the 

 position of chairman of the Executive Committee, and 

 finally first vice-president of that organization. The 

 degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Dr. Fernow 

 by the University of Wisconsin in 1897. He took up his 

 duties at Toronto University in 1907. 



DOUGLASS "KILLED IN ACTION" 



A REPORT from the Adjutant General practically 

 **■ confirming the death of Lieut. C. W. H. Douglass 

 reads as follows : 



"Lieut. Charles W. H. Douglass, Signal Corps, prev- 

 iously reported missing in action since June 11, 1918, 

 now reported killed in action, same date." No further 

 details are available. 



Lieutenant Douglass was a graduate of the New York 

 State College of Forestry and at the time of his enlist- 

 ment in the Aviation Service, was associated with P. S. 

 Ridsdale, editor and secretary of the American Forestry 

 Association. His loss is keenly felt. 



HOMES built of wood were practically the only struc- 

 tures unscathed in the severe earthquakes which 

 devastated parts of the island of Porto Rico, ac- 

 cording to reports made to the National Lumber Manu- 

 facturers' Association — a high tribute to the durability of 

 this forest product in building work. 



GRADUATES OF THE NEW YORK STATE COL- 

 LEGE OF FORESTRY GRANTED AMERICAN- 

 SCANDINAVIAN FELLOWSHIP 



ly/TR. HENRY M. MELONEY, of Bordentown, New 

 -L" Jersey, who was graduated from the New York State 

 College of Forestry, at Syracuse University, with the de- 

 gree of B. S., in June, 1918, has just accepted appointment 

 to a technical fellowship for the study of forestry, lumber, 

 and paper and pulp manufacture in Sweden, under the 

 American-Scandinavian Foundation. Ten college and uni- 

 versity men from America will be sent to the Scandinavian 

 states under the American- Scandinavian Foundation for 

 study and research. Two of these fellowships are in 

 forestry and the others in mining, electrical engineering, 

 etc. The fellowships carry $1,000 and are of one year's 

 duration. Mr. Meloney is planning to leave for Sweden 

 in August and will specialize in lumbering and logging 

 engineering. 



