OliSEKVATIONS ON BLIGHT, 



2\d 



turned upside down ; the increase is prodigious; it beats every 

 thing of the kind that I have ever seen, heard, or read of. 

 Insects in general come from an egg, — then turn to a caterpillar, 

 which does nothing but eat, — then to a chrysalis, which does 

 nothing but sleep, — then to a perfect beetle or fly, which does 

 nothing but increase its kind. But blights proceed altogether 

 on another system : — the young ones are born exactly like the 

 old ones, but less ; they stick their beaks through the rind, and 

 begin drawing sap when only a day old, and go on quietly 

 sucking away for seven or eight days ; and then, without love, 

 courtship, or matrimony, each individual begins bringing forth 

 young ones, and continues to do so for months, at the rate of 

 from a dozen to eighteen every day, and yet continues to 

 increase in size all the while ; there seem to be no males, no 

 drones,— all bring forth alike. Early in the year these blights 

 are scattered along the stems, but as soon as the little ones 

 come to light, and commence sap-sucking close to their mother, 

 the spaces get filled up, and the old ones look like giants 

 among the rest, — as here and there an ox in a flock of sheep ; 

 when all the spare room is filled up, and the stalk completely 

 covered. The young ones, when they make their first appearance 

 in the world, seem rather posed as to what to be at, and stand 

 quietly on the backs of the others for an hour or so ; then, as 

 if having made up their minds, they toddle upwards, walking 

 on the backs of the whole flock till they arrive at the upper 

 end, and then settle themselves quietly down, as close as 

 possible to the outermost of their friends, and then commence 

 sap-sucking like the rest ; the flock by this means extends in 

 length every day, and at last the growing shoot is overtaken by 

 their multitude, and completely covered to the very tip. 

 Towards autumn, however, the blights undergo a change in 

 their nature, their feet stick close to the rind, their skin opens 

 along the back, and a winged blight comes out — the summer 

 generations being entirely wingless. These are male and 

 female, and fly about and enjoy themselves, and, what seems 

 scarcely credible, these winged females lay eggs, having 

 first lived through the winter ; and whilst this operation is 

 going on, a solitary winged blight may be observed on the 

 under-side of the leaves, or on the young shoots, particularly 

 on the hop, and differing from all its own progeny, in being- 

 winged and nearly black, whereas its young are green and 



