132 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



Nov, 14, 1823. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND F.iRJlEK. 



( OXTRIEUTIOWS TO EMTOMOLOGY. 



iJV TUADDEUS WILLIAM 1L\UI!!S, AI. D. 

 No. IV. 



Subgenus .'Inchomenus. 



L'nited to CaUistus iiy Latreille, who infoniis us 

 lliat it is distinguished from Jlgonum by having 

 (he thorax heart-shaped and truncated at base and 

 apex. Leach says that the characteristics of this 

 genus of BonelU are, to liavc the tliird and fourtl> 

 joints of the palpi equal, suh-acute ; the basal tho- 

 racic angles acute ; and {.'n which it differs from 

 Caltislus) in having the thora.x glabrous, the lab- 

 rum transversely ijuadratc, entire, and the Ijody 

 .■Soniewliat depresseil. 



Our species exhibits the above characters, on 

 which I must depend for the propriety of arrang- 

 ing it in the genus, no foreign types of which I 

 have seen. Congeneric is fero.ma decora, Say, 

 and probably also the species named by liim, f. 

 finciicollis and dccmlis. The decora is about the 

 size of the following, has a rufous thorax and dark 

 cupreous elytra. They are fou.Td under stones 

 in wet meadows. 



Jl. extensicoUis. Head and thorax green, elytra 

 purple, margined witii green ; beneath piceous ; 

 feet ochreous. 



Length seven tweuticths of an incl:. 



Head imjjunctured, and, with the thorax, terug- 

 inous green ; li[) and mandibles piceous, j)alpi and 

 .intennjE dark rcdish brov/n, basal joint of the lat- 

 ter ochreous. Thorax at base and dilated lateral 

 indentations slightly punctured, dorsal furrow dis- 

 tinct. Scutel blackish purple. Elytra deep red- 

 ish purple, external subtnargln green, with twelve 

 or more ocellated punctures ; striae distinctly punc- 

 tured at base interstitial lines very slightly convex, 

 with exceedingly minute punctures, the third line 

 with from five to seven large punctures, three of 

 which nearest the base are contiguous to the third 

 stricB, the fourth in the middle of the interstitial 

 line, and the remaining ones contiguous to the 

 second stria. Body bencatli glabrous, piceous ; 

 feet ochreous. 



The punctures of the interstitial lines are so 

 small as not tu be discovered except by a power- 

 ful magnifier. It is probable that tliia insect is 

 the FERONiA exlejiskcltis of Say, with whose des- 

 cription it agrees in most respects, and therefore j 

 j;is name i^ adopted, until a comiiarison with an 

 undoubted specimen of his insect shows mine to 

 be distinct, in which case it may receive the spe- 

 cific appellation of proxhnus. Mr. Say describes 

 the extensiotlis as having impunclured stri.e, con- 

 vex interstitial lines, rufous antennro and italpi, 

 and testaceous feet, in whicli it diflcis from our 

 species. 



GE.XUS CIILjE-^IIUS. 



c. *puhescsr}s. Head and thorax green, elytra 

 olivaceous, head iinpuncturetl, lubruni truncate, 

 body beneath fuscous feet pafj ochreous. 



Length nearly nine twentieths of an inch. 



i5udy pubescent, the hairs decumbent, sericc- 

 uus, ferruginous. Head bald, glabrous, impunc- 

 lured. Palpi and three basal joints of the anten- 

 nce ochre.cus yellow, ^nooth ; remaining joints 

 fuscous, very hairy. Labruin and mandibles cas- 

 taneous. Thorax above green, pcliilicd, punctur- 

 ed, with longer, more elevated hairs than on the 

 elytra ; broadest in the middle ; longitudinal and 

 transverse diameters subequal ; lateral edges pur- 

 ple, regularly curved, slightly excurvpd at base ; 



disc distinctly canaliculate, basal lines tinged with 

 purple, elongated, and curving outwards towards 

 the middle of the margin. Coleoptra olivaceous, 

 disc purplish, submargin green, outer edge dark 

 ferruginous ; surface slightly polished, deeply and 

 distinctly [)unctured ; punctures of the strito ap- 

 proximated, less distinct at tip ; interstitial lines a 

 little convex. Pectus, jiostpectus and vent fusco- 

 piceous, punctured, with remote hairs. Feet pale 

 ochreou? yellow. 



Apparently approaches very near to c. Penn- 

 ■ Hhaiucus, Melsheimer; but differs from Mr. Say's 

 description of that species in being pubescent, in 

 the paler color of the base of the antennte and 

 feet, and in the diiiercntly colored elytra, and 

 truncate labrum, the punctures of the striie, altho' 

 less distuict, are by no means obsolete at tip. 

 Found under stones in wet places. 



GENUS DIC^LCS. 



D. *Lconardii. Redish black, polished ; body, 

 beneath, feet, and palpi piceous ; antennte fawn- 

 colored. 



Length half an inch. 



Body glabrous, polished, impunciured, above 

 deep piceous or rcdish black, beneath paler. Man- 

 dibles and labrum black, palpi piceous at base 

 paler at tip. Three basal joints of the aiuennaa 

 piceotls glabrous, remaining ones covered with 

 fawn-colored pubescence. Thorax quadrate, dia- 

 meters equal, not contracted before ; anterior an- 

 gles simply rounded ; somewhat contracted be- 

 hind the middle, and rectangular at base, where 

 it nearly equals the coleoptra in breadth ; lateral 

 edge not reflected ; dorsal and lateral lines deep ; 

 anterior part of the disc with a small foveolus, 

 each side of the dorsal line, and having a fortui- 

 tous appearance. Elytral striae impunctured ; in- 

 terstitial lines very convex, submarginal one ser- 

 rato-punctate within. Feet piceous, tarsi paler 

 above, and almost fawn-colored beneath. 



The filiform antenna; will prevent this insect 

 from being mistaken for aeax coracitius, Say, to 

 which it appears to have some resemblance. The 

 latter insect is known to me only by description. 



This fine dicclus was sent to me from Dublin, 

 N. II. by the Rev. L. W. Leonard, whose kindness 

 I aiP. happy to acknowledge by the name. Two 

 other species of the genus are found in this vicin- 

 ity, namely, d. dilalatus, Say, and n. elongatus, Bo- 

 nclli. They are foimd under stones, but are rare. 



[Kiom Ihe New York Slalcsinan.] 



ON BLACK DYEING AS APPLIED TO 

 WOOLEN CLOTH AND HATS. 



The dyeing of black has deterioated so much 

 within the last forty years in England, and in this 

 country as the copyist of England, that the colors 

 would be considered as unwearable, were not the 

 cloths as evanescent in their fabric as the colors 

 arc fugitive. The faint miserable colors given to 

 the blacks in the present day has been mainly the 

 result of the prevailing passion for cheap goods. — 

 To meet and indulge that ridiculous unprofitable 

 ! passion, the manufacturer has been compelled 

 1 gradually to make his goods in the most finnsy 

 manner, and the dyer to make his color at as low 

 a rate as possible. So much has the dyeing of 

 black been lowered in the west of England, that 

 a piece of twenty yards of broad cloth whicli for- 

 ty years since was charged thirty shillings, is now 

 done for six shillings and eight pence, and the dy- 

 er makes nearly the same profit now as he did 

 then. 



Before the year 1790, all the black cloths dyed 

 in England, excepting the coarser grades, were 

 colored blue in the woad vat previous to their re- 

 ceiving the black dye ; and a considerable portion 

 of nutgalls was used with logwood, &.r. in finish- 

 ing the color. All the black clotlis brought from 

 England have a white and a blue rose near the 

 end. The white rose was designed to show that 

 the cloth was white previously to its being dyed 

 blue ; for, as cloths dyed other colors, if found de- 

 fective, were usually dyed black to cover their im- 

 perfections, and as repeated colorings were found 

 to injure the texture of the goods, the dealers 

 would not give the same price for cloths without 

 the white rose. The blue rose was designed to 

 show that it had received the blue dye, and the 

 color of the rose was considereil a criterion of the 

 depth of the blue given. The white and blue ro- 

 ses are still preserved ; but the blue is never put 

 on, excepting by dipping a corner of the cloth in 



the blue vat, and by tying a rose on that part 



Nutgalls, which were found to give permanency to 

 the colors, have also been exploded as too expeu: 

 sive ; and the blacks now given to the pubhc, are 

 dyed with only logwood, fustic, aud sumach. The 

 latter being the only niaterial in the composition 

 that has any tendency to impart the least degree 

 of permanency to the color, and that is necessari- 

 ly used in such small portions, to preserve the blue 

 bloom of the now fashionable colors, as to have 

 hut little elTeet in checking the fugitive dye of the 

 logwood. 



The French and the Germans have always made 

 much better black, and given to that color a far 

 greater degree of permanency than the Engli.sh. 

 I am aware that this opinion will be considered as- 

 high treason by English agents, through whose in- 

 fluence the most flimsy goods, and the most mis- 

 erable colors, have become fashionable in this 

 country, and the public taste in this particular, 

 been materially vitiated. To prove the correct- 

 ness of this opinion, I need only request any citi- 

 zens, who have an opportunity of doing it, to com- 

 pare an English black that has been worn three- 

 months with a Frenli black that has been \vora 

 the same time. 



The color put on hats is even more fugitive than 

 that put on the cloth ; and it is liigh time that our 

 dyers, both of woolen and hats, shouhl pursue 

 some modi; of giving more i)ermanency to their 

 colors. The primary object of this essay is, to 

 show them how this can be effected, without any 

 additional exjiense to the operator. I am aware 

 that it would be worse than useless to attempt to 

 bring our dyers back to the old expensive but high- 

 ly permanent process of giving a woad-blue to 

 their goods before coloring them black : for the 

 public taste has-become so highly vitiated by the 

 passion for cheap goods, that firmness of fabric, 

 body, and permanency of color, and every other 

 quality that give to thein an intrinsic value, are 

 now never taken into consideration. As giving a 

 blue ground is out of the question, and as the nut- 

 galls, the next most permanent mode, nnist also 

 he resigned as too expensive, I have to direct the 

 attention of our dyers to a material growing abun- 

 dantly in this country, which answers even a bet- 

 ter purpose than nutgalls, and will cost no more 

 than the process now pursued. 



3Iost persons living in the interior of the conn- 

 try know that the bark of the swamp maple will 

 make good black ink, though tliey may not be a- 

 ware that four pounds of this bark, dried and 



