250 CANKER-WORM. 



ber. which are deposited on the branches of the tree 

 and generally near the extremities. The egg is of an 

 elliptic form, about one thirty-sixth of an inch in 

 length, of a pearl color, with a yellowish cast. As the 

 included animal advances, the eggs assume a brownish 

 hue, and finally become lead color. The eggs adhere 

 firmly to whatever they are laid upon, and appear 

 something like the top of a thimble, except the inden- 

 tations are much finer, and, when laid in the fall, are 

 not injured by freezing, but hatch about the time 

 before mentioned. During the last stage of their exist- 

 ence they do not eat any thing. The female, after 

 laying her eggs, having accomplished the object of her 

 existence, dies. Cold weather does not have any effect 

 upon the chrysahs moths or eggs, further than to be- 

 numb the millers and grubs, (grubs is the name usually 

 applied to the female,) until it becomes warm again, for, 

 if the insects in this state, when it is extremely cold, 

 are carried into a warm room, they soon become active. 

 A piece of ice containing a number of grubs was carried 

 into a warm room. As soon as the ice was thawed so 

 as to set them at liberty, they began to move about the 

 room, and were none the less vigorous for having slept 

 in a bed of ice. 



They have been known to rise from the earth when 

 the water was standing over them and come up 

 through the water. When snow was upon the ground 

 immediately around the tree, they have been known to 

 rise from that part of the ground where there was no 

 snow and cross over the snow to ascend the trees. 

 The greatest natural and most destructive enemy of 

 this insect is the Amphelis Garrulus of Linnaeus, called, 

 by Mr. Calesby, the chatterer of Carolina, and, in Dr. 

 Belnap's History of New Hampshire, cherry bird. 

 This bird destroys great numbers of them while in the 

 larva state. Another check is a disease which may be 

 called deliquium and is probably occasioned by a fer- 

 mentation of their food. In this disease the whole in- 



