LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. 



Washington, D. C, February 1, 1878. 

 Dear Sir : We herewith suhmit our first Report, to be by you transmitted to the 

 Secretary of the Interior. As the Report shows, the larger part of the summer season 

 was spent in active field-work ; yet this formed but a small part of the labor of the 

 Commission, each member of which was much engaged in attending to an extensive 

 correspondence, and in conveying information to individuals seeking it. Aside from 

 the experiments made and recorded in diff"erent parts of the Report, we have studied 

 the transformations, from the egg to the adult, of quite a number of the more common 

 locusts that occur east of the Mississippi. The results of these studies, as also of the 

 more elaborate researches on the embryology of the locust, have been excluded from 

 the present volume, in order not to delay its publication, and because they may more 

 appropriately be given in special memoirs. 



The creation of this special commission was but an expression of the public demand 

 for more light on the locust problem, which was to a great degree involved in dark- 

 ness and mystery. Investigation was called for because it was felt how little of a 

 definite and satisfactory nature was generally known on the subject. 



Entering the field with a full sense of the magnitude of the work, and with some 

 misgivings as to the final outcome of our investigations, the difficulties that at first 

 seemed insurmountable have either dwindled or entirely disappeared; and we point 

 with some pride to the facts and discoveries embodied in our Reports 



A year has not yet passed since receiving our appointments ; yet within that time 

 we have been able to establish the more important laws by which the insect is gov- 

 erned, and to bound, with a degree of accuracy that we had scarcely dared hope for, 

 the permanent breeding-grounds whence the disastrous swarms emanate, and which 

 before were almost unknown. 



The danger of total destruction to crops that threatened the West at the time the 

 Commission was appointed was safely passed, and in the event of its recurrence we 

 have faith that, as a record of what has been and a guide to what may be done in 

 future, this Report will, if judiciously distributed, enable the farmers to brave it again. 

 The young insects as they occur in the more fertile States affected can be mastered, as 

 the Report will, we hope, abundantly prove. We point out the way, also, which we have 

 every reason to believe will prove feasible and practicable, to prevent future incursions 

 of the winged swarms. 



While it has been the object of the Commission to cover as much ground as possible, 

 so as to make this annual report as full and reliable as the time would permit, there 

 yet remain several important subjects that it has so far been impossible to properly 

 and exhaustively study. ' 



The territory aff'ected is so vast, embracing about 2,000,000 square miles, that much 

 of it was imperfectly explored, especially in the Northwest. Mr. Riley had to cut 

 short his investigations in British America both for want of time and want of funds. 

 For similar reasons, and on account of Indian troubles, Montana, Wyoming, and Dakota 

 have been but superficially explored. 



The year 1877 was an abnormal year, i. e., the winged insects had the previous year 

 overrun and laid eggs in a large section of country in which the species is not indige- 

 nous, and a numerous progeny hatched in such country the past spring. This was 

 most fortunate for many reasons, and it enabled the Commission to carefully study tho 



XIII 



