HEMIPTERA. 477 



of the trees died. Sometimes the lettuces are destroyed by a root- 

 feeding aphis. Frequently the leaves of the carrot are attacked by 

 a species apt to escape notice. The vegetal marrows were attacked 

 this year for the first time in my garden, on the under side of the 

 leaf; but the melons and cucumbers in the glass structures are pretty 

 constantly visited by this pest. Sometimes the leaves of our cabbage 

 plants are infested, but never in my garden to such an extent as I 

 have seen them elsewhere. I have noticed beet-root and mangold ex- 

 tensively destroyed, but not at my garden. Grasses have a peculiar 

 aphis. Rose-trees are frequently injured by aphides, which attack the 

 young shoots. In some gardens honeysuckles are constantly so 

 severely attacked as to destroy their appearance, but mine have not 

 so suffered. Ivy is sometimes seriously injured. The leaves of the 

 apple-tree are often visited by a species totally different from the 

 American Blight, but it has never been seen at my garden. The limes 

 are constantly visited by such numbers that much honey is pro- 

 duced for the bees and wasps ; the beech is also similarly infested. 

 We have had two or three large willows killed by thousands of 

 a very large kind of aphis. The oak 

 has several species, including the 

 variety with long rostrum (fig. 1054), 

 which lives in the cracks in the oak 

 bark ; and the sycamores have a very 

 large species on their leaves, which FIG. io 54 . -Aphis Quercus, magnified. 



is followed by a black fungus. I might cite many other examples, 

 but I have mentioned enough to show how formidable these creatures 

 are, from the variety of plants which they attack, and on account of 

 the vast quantities which feed on a single plant. It is a desideratum 

 to have good figures of all these creatures. I am well pleased that 

 Mr. Buckton is undertaking this task, as an accurate drawing from 

 nature of any natural object is a gift to the world, and a contri- 

 bution to exact knowledge ; for the pencil can delineate what the 

 pen is unable to describe. Good drawings contribute much to com- 

 pensate for the imperfection of words and language. 



