282 SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE. Part II. 



council, and the documents collected, fill upwards of two hundred octavo pages. For- 

 tunately, England contained one illustrious naturalist, whose attention had long been 

 directed to all subjects which connects natural history with agriculture, and to whom the 

 privy council had the wdsdom to apply. It was by Sir Joseph Banks's entomological 

 knowledge, and through his suggestions, that they were at length enabled to form some 

 kind of judgment on the subject. This judgment was after all, however, very imperfect. 

 Sir Joseph Banks had never seen the Hessian fly, nor was it described in any entomolo- 

 gical system. He called for facts respecting its nature, propagation, and economy, which 

 could be had only in America. These were obtained as speedily as possible, and con- 

 sisted of numerous letters from individuals ; essays from magazines ; the reports of the 

 British minister there, &c. One would have supposed that from these statements, many 

 of them drawn up by farmers who had lost entire crops by the insect, which they pro- 

 fessed to have examined in every stage, the requisite information might have been 

 obtained. So far, however, was this from being the case, that many of the writers seem 

 ignorant whether the insect be a moth, a fly, or what they term a bug ! And though, 

 from the concurrent testimony of several, its being a two- winged fly seemed pretty accu- 

 rately ascertained, no intelligent description is given from which any naturalist can infer 

 to what genus it belongs, or whether it is a known species. With regard to the history 

 of its propagation and economy, the statements are so various and contradictory, that, 

 though he had such a mass of materials before him. Sir Joseph Banks was unable to 

 form any satisfactory conclusion. {Young's Ann. of Agriculture, xi. 406. Kirby and 

 Spence, i. 51.) 



1838. An acquaintance with the domesticated and indigenous animals alone of Britain 

 is essential to the agriculturist, and even of the latter the terrestrial proportion only will 

 come under his notice. A knowledge of the names by which the wild species are 

 universally known is all that he need study in the classification of quadrupeds and birds, 

 and these may be acquired from the British Zoology of Pennant ; the quadrupeds and 

 birds of Bewick, or the British Fauna of Dr. Turton. A British Fauna has been 

 published by Dr. Fleming, which supplies, in a great measure, the deficiencies of the 

 before-mentioned works. A more perfect acquaintance, however, with insects is essen- 

 tially necessary, because their influence, in one shape or other, is constantly apparent in 

 the avocations of the husbandman. The cheapest and most comprehensive work on 

 British insects is Samouelle's Entomologist's useful Compendium, in which the elements 

 of the science are explained, and a large proportion of our native insects enumerated. 

 But no work on zoology, as it aifects agriculture or gardening, has yet appeared. 

 Those who wish to enter deeper into this science, and understand the present state of the 

 " Philosophy of Zoology," will find the discoveries of the celebrated Cuvier, and other 

 modern naturalists, concentrated and digested with much ability by Dr. Fleming, in a 

 work bearing the above title. From these sources we have extracted the principal part 

 of the following chapters, which relate to Animal Anatomy, Chemistry, Physiology, 

 Pathology, Uses, and Artificial Improvement. 



Chap. I. 



Systematic Zoology, S[c. 



18S9. The technical terms in zoology are much more numerous than those in botany, 

 because there are an infinitely greater variety of forms in animals than in plants. Those 

 made use of in the veterinary art are most important to the agriculturist, and these terms 

 are usually prefixed to treatises on that subject. 



1840. In describing animals, naturalists select those characters for distinguishing the 

 species which are external : but the sexes of the vertebrated animals can only be ascer- 

 tained by an internal examination of the reproductive organs. The higher divisions, or 

 those which constitute classes, orders, families, and (in some cases) genera, depend more 

 or less on internal structure. 



1841. The best descriptions are often insufficient : accurate drawings or preserved spe- 

 cimens should therefore be kept to verify the first examination, or to perpetuate pecu- 

 liarities that may have escaped^ previous notice. When the agriculturist requires 

 information from others on any particular insect detrimental to his crops, a simple 

 description of the object is not suflScient. This indeed may lead to a knowledge of the 

 species, but not to the means by which the evil is to be checked. He should carefully 

 note down the time, the manner, and the situation in which the insect first makes its 

 appearance, the period which it remains in the larva or grub state, in what way it changes 

 to the perfect insect, whether above or beneath the ground, and, lastly, in what situations 

 the female deposits her eggs ; two or three specimens of the insect, in its various stages. 



