Nov. 17, 1855.] 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE. 



757 



like bees 7 ceils, but they are single, with the opening 

 downwards, not set end to end as in honeycomb. The 

 upper surface is rough, dark, and uneven, corresponding 

 to the blind ends of the cells. The lower presents the 

 open orifices of the cells all invested with more or less 

 of the same mucous secretion with which the cells are 

 lined and the larger cells are prolonged, and which is 

 the cement used for holding the component particles of 

 the wood together. This mucus is soluble in an alka- 

 line menstruum, insoluble in water, alcohol, or ether, 

 differing thus chemically from the secretion with which 

 bees make their cells. 



The paper is made by all on the same general plan — 

 namely, in ribbons varying in width from about one-six- 

 teenth of an inch upwards. The ribbons are fastened 

 together into a sheet, the fastening being of a less com- 

 pact texture than the ribbon itself. The cells are made 

 in this same way, apparently three sides of the hexagon 

 being made continuously. The disposition of the various 

 materials of which the sheets of paper are made leads 

 to the inference that each wasp, of the social species, has 

 its own working place, and itself makes up the mate- 

 rials which it brings home, going on building where it 

 had left off, and then returning to the same place for 

 more similar materials. The difference of material in 

 various parts is much more apparent in the nest of the 

 social than in that of the solitary wasp. 



The cells are made of a single thickness, coated on 

 e*ch side with a layer of mucus, by which also the in- 

 terstices of the woodwork are filled. The case con- 

 sists of sheets of paper, laid one over the other, most 

 numerous at the top whence they begin, but laid with 

 no great regularity. Apparently the whole nest is made 

 on a definite plan, the size of the whole being calculated 

 from the first to the probable requirements of the 

 colony. But on this point some observations are needed, 

 which might be readily and safely made with a telescope 

 on the tree wasp's nest. 



The common wasp which builds in the ground uses 

 for this purpose fragments of wood. The pulp formed 

 by boiling the paper of this species in a solution of 

 caustic potash, displays under the microscope little frag- 

 ments of wood, where several short fibres are held 

 together by medullary rays. Apparently the wood is 

 decayed ; the comparatively large size of the fragments 

 and the absence of discolouration on boiling in liquor 

 potassse favour this opinion. The wood is used by this 

 sp?cies only as rubble, quite differently to the practice of 

 the tree wasp. 



Hornet paper differs only from this in the larger size 

 of the fragments, and generally coarser structure and 

 more friable texture. The nests, so far as I have been 

 able to ascertain, are made on the same general plan; 

 but my knowledge on this point is very incomplete. The 

 usual seat of the nest, namely, the hollow of a decayed 

 tree, renders an outer case less needful to these insects 

 than to the tree wasps. 



Tree wasp paper, disintegrated by boiling liquor 

 potassae, presents only filaments or vegetable fibres under 

 the microscope. Here are no fragments or medullary 

 rays, only fibres which are fitted into one another; and, 

 as this paper blackens on boiling in an alkaline solution, 

 it may be inferred that live fibres, still containing the 

 vegetable juices, were employed. The texture is much 

 stronger and more compact than that of the ground 

 wasp's nest, and mucus is not so largely used. I have 

 succeeded, indeed, in making a paper of tolerable tenacity 

 from the pulp of wasp paper of this kind after the mucus 

 had been removed. 



I believe that the different nature of the materials 

 which they employ, and the different manner in which 

 they work them up, would alone establish an essential 

 difference between the ground and tree wasp. It would 

 be curious to ascertain whether any difference exists in 

 the structure of the jaws of these species corresponding 

 with the difference of their habits. Perhaps I may 

 have opportunities of investigating this point next year. 

 The only appreciable distinction of texture between the 

 nests of the solitary and social tree wasp is the greater 

 delicacy and uniformity of the solitary nest. The 

 materials of both are the same. Brighton. 



■MMBMBMM 





owing to the want of development of some of the petals 

 Various causes doubtless exist capable of producing 

 such an annoying result, not only arising from the 

 growth of the plant itself but also from the condition of 

 the atmosphere and other external circumstances. I 

 have reason however to believe that the chief agent in the 

 matter is a little active winged field bug, which 

 throughout the month of October, whilst the Chrysanthe- 

 mum buds are in their full growth, may be seen seated 

 on them in the sunshine, with its sucker deeply im- 

 mersed in the bud, from which it extracts its nourish- 

 ment ; at the same time materially affecting the growth 

 of the particular parts of the bud which the insect has 

 thus attacked. 



This little insect is generally to be found either seated 

 on the top of the buds or among their clustered stems ; 

 it is very wary, and at the approach of the hand either 

 immediately flies off or hides itself on the under or 

 opposite side of the bud. It is, with its wings 

 closed, about a quarter of an inch long, and is 

 of a dull ochreous colour, tinged with reddish or with 

 greenish, so as to be somewhat variable in its hue. 

 The upper surface of its body is glossy, so that it is 

 rather an agreeable object than otherwise, when viewed 

 in the sun sitting in the midst of a bud of which the 

 bursting petals begin to disclose their tints. It is of a 

 longish, oval, and rather depressed form ; the head is 

 triangular, with chesnut eyes ; the antennae are about 

 two-thirds the length of the entire body, the second 

 joint is not thicker than the basal one, the third and 

 fourth are rather more slender. The thorax is rather 

 strongly punctured ; it is at its hind part nearly three 

 times as broad as the head, with its lateral margins 

 straight and oblique ; near its fore margin are two small 

 raised spaces placed transversely. The scutellum has 

 two small black pointed spots at its base. The wing 

 covers are like thin horn, both in colour and substance, 

 so as somewhat to show the colours of the body through 

 them ; they are slightly clouded with brown about the 

 middle, and with several small dark dots beyond the 

 middle; the apical membrane is rather dusky, with the 

 vein which traverses it in an oval form, more transparent. 

 The legs are long and slender, pale dirty buff, the hind 

 thighs with a dusky ring near the tips. The body of the 

 male is dark blackish, with a reddish tinge at the 

 extremity ; that of the female is greenish buff. The 

 latter sex has a long groove down the greater part of the 

 under side of the abdomen, which contains the instru- 

 ment by which she deposits her eggs in plants. 



We do not know either the earlier or later history of the 

 species, and can only conjecture that some of the females 



MEMORANDA. 



itended to show some instances in which the ajtencv of man has 

 been brought into pUr in the productttc of plant*, of insects. 

 of birds, and alao on a" more extended scale, on localities and 

 on climates; and to show that however these effect* may 

 appear permanent, they originate in takine; advantage of 

 tl e laws to which the Almightr Power has subjected all 

 alike— plants, insects, animal*, localities, climates, and man 



himself. 



(Concluded from «. 742. ) 





ENTOMOLOGY. 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM FIELD BUG. 



Flowers, the beauty of which, in the eye of the 

 artistic cultivator, consists in the almost mathematical 

 correctness of the outline and in the perfectly even 

 development of the petals and stamens, must of course 

 be rendered worthless if either of these conditions be 

 wanting, since it cannot be denied that (although it may 

 be a matter of questionable taste to distort by cultiva- 

 tion the outline of a naturally irregular flowered species, 

 such as a Viola, into a perfectly regular circle) many 

 flowers, especially composite ones, are circularly deve- 

 loped upon mathematical principles, and therefore the 

 truer their development the more even will be their form 

 and growth ; and we presume it is an unquestionable 

 axiom in aesthetics that what is true to nature cannot be 

 false in taste. 



These remarks are offered by way of answer to the 

 observations which we have heard as to the unnecessary 

 care bestowed by florists on their favourite flowers, with 

 the view of their becoming perfect in outline and 

 development. Now the Chrysanthemum is one of those 

 flowers which nature has determined should be of a 

 Perfectly circular outline, and with regularly developed 

 Petals, but it very often happens that the choicest 

 flowers of this kind will not bloom true and regular, 



as soon as the dull cold weather of November approaches, 

 hide themselves among the foliage of hedge rows or 

 adjacent plants where they remain till spring, when they 

 deposit their eggs on the young stems or upon the newly 

 developed leaves of the Chrysanthemum and other 

 plants suitable for the food of their progeny, which 

 resemble their parents in all respects except in wanting 

 wings and wing covers. We must not omit to add that 

 the°iustrument by which the mischief to the Chrysan- 

 themum buds is produced is the four-jointed sucker 

 attached to the under side of the head, its length being 

 nearlv that of the antennas, and the interior of its sheath 

 being furnished with several long and very delicate 

 bristles which it thrusts into the buds, thus causing the 

 sap to flow upwards along; the tubular sheath into the 

 head of the insect We may further mention that the 

 insect is much less active in dull weather, when it may 

 be easily caught with the fingers. In this manner in 

 fire minutes I captured sufficient specimens for ray own 

 and friends* cabinets. The species belongs to the order 

 Hemiptera, sub-order Heteroptera, family Capsidse, and 

 genus Phvtocoris, being closely allied to the Potato bug, 

 whose portrait we gave in this Paper some time a<?o : 

 and although it is very difficult to determine the very 

 numerous species of this group, we believe our insect to 

 be the Cimex campestris of Linnaeus. 



Since the above was written we learn from Mr. halter, 

 of the Versailles Nursery, whose success in cultivating the 

 Chrysanthemum is so well known, that the ravages ot thi 

 insect are much more injurious than I had imagined and 

 thatit is chiefly to its attacks on the very young buds in 

 August and September that so many of them wither off 

 in the centre. He adds that one eminent French grower 

 of these flowers has informed him that from thw cause 

 ha h*« ftPAivelv a single bloom this year. J. V. W. 



THIRDLY— OF HE1>3. 



1. Some years ago an apparatus for hatching bird* 

 by steam was a show in London. An establishment now 

 exists on the road to Richmond for the purpose of 

 supplying the markets with poultry when out of s ea son . 

 The mother is thus set aside, and the ingenuity of IBM 

 provides a substitute. 



2. Again, the cottager? of Weston Tourville and its 

 neighbourhood, by care and high feeding, have brought 

 a peculiarly fine freed of white ducks bo forward as to 

 constitute a most important dish at the tablet of the 

 wealthy Londoners early in spring, when ducks in 

 the state of nature have scared) inimer.eed laying. 

 The cottager first finds a hen or a duck which is fed 

 highly, and which thus becomes ready to sit out of 

 season. The young brood is from the first carefully 

 enclosed on the floor of the cottage ; new broods art 

 added until the floor is divided into many enclos tires, 

 each teeming with its brood of young ducks. Thr art 

 now carefully attended, are fed with barley meal and 

 greaves (the fibrous part of the fat, which remains 

 after it is melted) ; they thrive, grow much beyond 

 the ordinary breed, and become an important source 

 of revenue to the cottagers. Here the ingenuity of 

 man is made to minister to the wants of man but 

 the young ducks, if left to themselves, would revert 

 to the state of nature. 



FOURTHLY* 



On a more extended scale the ingenuity of man, 

 as shown by Colonel Nichols, Royal Marines, in the 

 collection of water on the solitary island of Ascension, in 

 the midst of the ocean , has been rarely equalled. A scanty 

 supply was procured formerly for watering ships, when 

 the quick perception of the Governor led him to notice 

 the rapidity with which a kind of Moss overran the 

 bare rock. Fully aware of the hygrometrical quality 

 of plants he took advantage of it by planting the Moss 

 wherever there was a trace of soil, by means of spouts 

 the water was conveyed to the most convenient spots 

 until he procured a most ample supply, daily on the in- 

 crease, in proportion as his Moss extended more and 



more. 



In like manner the agency of man, with or, without 

 his intention or knowledge, works important changes 

 both in the climate of individual spots and in large 

 districts. For instance : One of my uncles had an 

 estate in Virginia, very near to the bank of the James 

 river. The house was situated on an elevated plain. 

 The course of the river, and the miasma which arose 

 from or were conveyed by it, were shut out from the 

 house by a dense and abruptly sloping wood. At about 

 a mile and a half from the estate his nearest neighbour 

 had a house similarly situated. Unfortunately the 

 neighbour cut down a portion of the wood between 

 his house and the river. He thus let in the dry 

 wind of the southern parts of the United States which 

 rushes to the higher temperature of the Gulf Stream, 

 bearing along with it pestilence and death. The result 

 was that the neighbour lost several members of his 

 family, and many slaves, and that the estate was 

 deserted, while that of my uncle remained healthy. 



In like manner, in the mountainous parts of Kandy, 

 Martd of Ceylon, where every portion of land which can 

 be irrigated *is so, and every streamlet is carefully col- 

 lected in tanks for the purpose, there is an old fort at 

 Nalunda. This fort had proved the grave equally of 

 European, Malay, Bengalee, and African. At last an 

 intelligent native pointed out that it was situated in a 

 line in which the tank and the irrigated paddy fields 

 were placed— that is, between the north-east, or the direc- 

 tion of the dry wind, and the fort ; so that the fort being 

 on elevated ground was so placed as to catch every atom 

 of miasma. He pointed out that the natives always 

 placed themselves on a level with the tank ; that the 

 tanks were always constructed to the north-eastward 

 of the paddy field ; and that the dwellings of the natives 

 were erected to the north-eastward m the midsl ; of 

 wood. He suggested that the fort should be ab^doned 

 and that the nest-master should be removed to a point 

 t the StBw-d in the midst of wood, which rose 







The iS Shat we had the gratification of finding 

 the rest-house perfectly healthy, to find the half-caste 

 post-master in the perfect enjoyment of 1. e and above 

 JJ I walked about with the intelligent Model.ar (the 

 highest native employi) and heard him point out with 

 delight the result of his suggestion. 



In the neighbourhood of Charleston, South Carolina, 

 we have an instance in a wide district of the effects 

 of the industry of man being turned, by neglect, 

 into a source of pestilence rarely exceeded, yro- 

 lina Rice is produced on the deltas of the Charles 

 and Savannah rivers, and their tributaries. It tenwrljr 

 bore so high a price as to induce the growers to take 

 advantage of every difference of level to construct tauks 

 for irrigation. During the war of independence 

 he district was perfectly healthy. The construction 

 of tanks increased" until East Indian Rice was imported 

 and caused the price to become so low as not » "W* ° 



.. „t Wn;™ ,,t, «nme of the«e tank*. Tank after 



