﻿122 
  Thirtieth 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  State 
  Museum. 
  [10] 
  

  

  I 
  send 
  you 
  herewith 
  a 
  letter 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  received 
  from 
  

   Mr. 
  James 
  T. 
  King, 
  Druggist 
  and 
  Chemist 
  of 
  Middletown. 
  

   Mr. 
  King 
  forgot 
  to 
  state 
  in 
  his 
  letter, 
  that 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  

   worm 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  stewed 
  apples, 
  by 
  a 
  family 
  residing 
  

   in 
  Middletown, 
  somewhat 
  broken 
  up, 
  but 
  in 
  no 
  other 
  way 
  

   sensibly 
  affected 
  by 
  the 
  heat 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  subjected. 
  

  

  Now, 
  that 
  public 
  attention 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  widely 
  drawn 
  to 
  this 
  

   subject 
  by 
  the 
  publication, 
  in 
  so 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  newspapers 
  of 
  

   the 
  State, 
  of 
  your 
  recent 
  letter, 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  safe 
  to 
  predict 
  that 
  

   during 
  the 
  coming 
  summer 
  and 
  autumn 
  much 
  more 
  satisfac- 
  

   tory 
  information 
  will 
  be 
  gathered 
  respecting 
  this 
  curious 
  and 
  

   hitherto 
  unknown 
  parasite. 
  

  

  The 
  above 
  prediction 
  was 
  not 
  verified, 
  and 
  it 
  may 
  therefore 
  be 
  

   inferred 
  that 
  the 
  parasite 
  is 
  not 
  increasing 
  rapidly, 
  and 
  that 
  

   its 
  presence 
  in 
  fruit 
  cannot 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  frequent 
  

   occurrence. 
  

  

  But 
  a 
  single 
  instance 
  of 
  its 
  detection 
  has 
  since 
  been 
  brought 
  

   to 
  my 
  notice. 
  Prof. 
  J. 
  H. 
  Comstock, 
  of 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  

   Entomology, 
  in 
  Cornell 
  University, 
  has 
  informed 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  

   has 
  in 
  his 
  possession 
  an 
  example 
  of 
  M. 
  acuminata, 
  taken 
  in 
  

   January 
  29th, 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  year 
  [1876], 
  from 
  a 
  worm-eaten 
  

   " 
  Seek-no-further." 
  The 
  apple 
  was 
  grown 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  

   Ithaca, 
  and 
  had 
  been 
  stored 
  in 
  a 
  bin 
  in 
  a 
  cellar. 
  The 
  fruit 
  

   had 
  been 
  shaken 
  from 
  the 
  tree, 
  but 
  not 
  allowed, 
  it 
  is 
  believed, 
  

   to 
  lie 
  upon 
  the 
  ground 
  for 
  any 
  length 
  of 
  time. 
  

  

  Prof. 
  Comstock 
  proposes, 
  during 
  the 
  coming 
  season, 
  to 
  

   communicate 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  pomologists 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  

   of 
  learning 
  of 
  the 
  distribution, 
  abundance, 
  and 
  such 
  additional 
  

   facts 
  as 
  may 
  add 
  to 
  our 
  knowledge 
  of 
  this 
  interesting 
  creature. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  published 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  detection 
  of 
  the 
  Mermis 
  

   in 
  fruit 
  (unknown 
  to 
  me 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  my 
  communication 
  to 
  

   Mr. 
  Friend), 
  appeared 
  in 
  the 
  Gardener's 
  Monthly, 
  for 
  May, 
  

   1872, 
  a 
  periodical 
  published 
  in 
  New- 
  York. 
  A 
  reference 
  to 
  this 
  

   notice 
  is 
  made 
  in 
  Prof. 
  Riley's 
  Fifth 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  Insects 
  of 
  

   Missouri, 
  p. 
  49, 
  in 
  connection 
  with 
  descriptions 
  of 
  two 
  addi- 
  

   tional 
  parasites 
  (Hymenoptera) 
  of 
  the 
  apple- 
  worm 
  (Carpocapsa 
  

   pomonella 
  larva), 
  discovered 
  by 
  Prof. 
  Riley. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  P. 
  H. 
  Foster, 
  of 
  Babylon, 
  N. 
  Y., 
  communicates 
  to 
  the 
  

   Gardener's 
  Monthly, 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  I 
  discovered 
  a 
  parasite 
  on 
  the 
  above 
  worm 
  {Carpocapsa 
  

   pomonella'] 
  in 
  the 
  year 
  1869. 
  I 
  sent 
  a 
  specimen 
  to 
  Mr. 
  B 
  

   D. 
  Walsh, 
  of 
  Illinois, 
  which 
  he 
  calls 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  hair- 
  snake 
  

   (Gordius). 
  I 
  also 
  found 
  one 
  last 
  summer 
  imbedded 
  in 
  the 
  

   apple- 
  worm 
  in 
  the 
  center 
  of 
  a 
  large 
  pear. 
  This 
  Gordius 
  is 
  

  

  