﻿PAST 
  HISTORY 
  OF 
  THE 
  ARMY 
  WORM. 
  93 
  

  

  1646 
  and 
  1649 
  to 
  any 
  one 
  of 
  many 
  species, 
  and 
  that 
  of 
  1762 
  to 
  some 
  cut- 
  

   worm, 
  yet 
  they 
  may 
  also, 
  one 
  or 
  all, 
  very 
  possibly 
  refer 
  to 
  Leucania. 
  

   For 
  exact 
  i^nrposes, 
  however, 
  we 
  may 
  agree 
  with 
  Fitch 
  and 
  the 
  others 
  

   who 
  have 
  followed 
  him 
  so 
  closely, 
  in 
  considering 
  1743 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  Army 
  

   Worm 
  year 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  i)retty 
  definite 
  proof. 
  We 
  are 
  also 
  in- 
  

   clined 
  to 
  think 
  that 
  Flint's 
  quotation 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  1762 
  has 
  reference 
  to 
  

   Leucania, 
  though 
  not 
  as 
  certainly 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  1743. 
  

  

  Conceruiug 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  Army 
  Worm 
  in 
  1770 
  there 
  can 
  be 
  

   but 
  little 
  doubt, 
  for, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  quotation 
  given 
  above, 
  we 
  have 
  

   two 
  graphic 
  accounts 
  which 
  quite 
  evidently 
  point 
  to 
  the 
  true 
  Army 
  

   Worm 
  as 
  the 
  author 
  of 
  the 
  damage. 
  The 
  first 
  is 
  that 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  Eev. 
  

   Grant 
  Powers, 
  in 
  his 
  Historical 
  Sketches 
  of 
  the 
  Goos 
  Country 
  (Kew 
  

   Hampshire), 
  published 
  at 
  Haverhill, 
  N. 
  H., 
  in 
  1841: 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1770 
  this 
  whole 
  section 
  was 
  visited 
  by 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  calamity, 
  

   such 
  a 
  one 
  as 
  the 
  country 
  never 
  exi^erienced 
  before 
  or 
  since, 
  beyond 
  what 
  I 
  shall 
  here 
  

   specify. 
  It 
  was 
  an 
  army 
  of 
  worms, 
  which 
  extended 
  from 
  Lancaster, 
  N. 
  H., 
  to 
  North- 
  

   field, 
  in 
  Massachusetts. 
  They 
  began 
  to 
  appear 
  the 
  latter 
  part 
  of 
  July, 
  1770, 
  and 
  con- 
  

   tinued 
  their 
  ravages 
  until 
  September. 
  The 
  inhabitants 
  denominated 
  them 
  the 
  

   ^'Northern 
  Army," 
  as 
  they 
  seemed 
  to 
  advance 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  or 
  northwest 
  and 
  to 
  pass 
  

   east 
  and 
  south, 
  although 
  I 
  do 
  not 
  learn 
  that 
  they 
  ever 
  passed 
  the 
  high 
  lands 
  between 
  

   the 
  Connecticut 
  and 
  Merrimack 
  Rivers. 
  They 
  were 
  altogether 
  too 
  innumerable 
  for 
  

   multitude. 
  Dr. 
  Burton, 
  of 
  Thetfort, 
  Vt., 
  told 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  had 
  seen 
  whole 
  pastures 
  so 
  

   covered 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  not 
  put 
  down 
  his 
  finger 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  spot 
  without 
  placing 
  it 
  upon 
  

   a 
  worm. 
  He 
  said 
  he 
  had 
  seen 
  more 
  than 
  ten 
  bushels 
  in 
  a 
  heap. 
  They 
  were 
  unlike 
  

   anything 
  which 
  the 
  present 
  generation 
  have 
  ever 
  seen! 
  There 
  was 
  a 
  stripe 
  upon 
  the 
  

   back 
  like 
  black 
  velvet, 
  on 
  either 
  side 
  a 
  yellow 
  strij)e 
  from 
  end 
  to 
  end, 
  and 
  the 
  rest 
  

   of 
  the 
  body 
  was 
  brown. 
  They 
  were 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  not 
  larger 
  than 
  a 
  pin, 
  but 
  in 
  

   their 
  maturity 
  they 
  were 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  a 
  man's 
  finger 
  and 
  proportionably 
  large 
  in 
  circum- 
  

   ference. 
  They 
  appeared 
  to 
  be 
  in 
  great 
  haste, 
  except 
  when 
  they 
  halted 
  to 
  devour 
  their 
  

   food. 
  They 
  filled 
  the 
  houses 
  of 
  the 
  inhabitants, 
  and 
  entered 
  their 
  kneading- 
  troughs, 
  

   as 
  did 
  the 
  tiogs 
  in 
  Egypt. 
  They 
  would 
  go 
  up 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  a 
  house, 
  and 
  over 
  it, 
  in 
  such 
  

   a 
  compact 
  column 
  that 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  boards 
  or 
  shingles 
  could 
  be 
  seen! 
  They 
  did 
  

   not 
  take 
  hold 
  of 
  the 
  pumpkin 
  vine, 
  pease, 
  potatoes, 
  or 
  flax 
  ; 
  but 
  wheat 
  and 
  corn 
  dis- 
  

   appeared 
  before 
  as 
  if 
  by 
  magic. 
  They 
  would 
  climb 
  up 
  stalks 
  of 
  wheat, 
  eat 
  olF 
  the 
  

   stalk 
  just 
  below 
  the 
  head, 
  and 
  almost 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  head 
  had 
  fallen 
  upon 
  the 
  ground 
  

   it 
  was 
  devoured. 
  To 
  prevent 
  this 
  the 
  men 
  would 
  "draw 
  the 
  rope," 
  as 
  they 
  termed 
  

   it 
  ; 
  that 
  is, 
  two 
  men 
  would 
  take 
  a 
  rope, 
  one 
  at 
  each 
  end, 
  and 
  pulling 
  from 
  each 
  other 
  

   until 
  it 
  was 
  nearly 
  straightened, 
  they 
  would 
  pass 
  through 
  their 
  wheat-fiehls 
  and 
  

   brush 
  off 
  the 
  worms 
  from 
  the 
  stalks, 
  and 
  by 
  perpetual 
  action 
  they 
  retarded 
  the 
  de- 
  

   tttruction 
  of 
  their 
  wheat; 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  doomed, 
  finally, 
  to 
  extinction. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  fields 
  of 
  corn 
  on 
  the 
  meadows 
  in 
  Haverhill 
  and 
  Newbury, 
  standing 
  so 
  

   thick, 
  large, 
  and 
  tall 
  that 
  in 
  some 
  instances 
  it 
  was 
  difficult 
  to 
  see 
  a 
  man 
  standing 
  

   more 
  than 
  one 
  rod 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  from 
  the 
  outermost 
  row 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  ten 
  days 
  from 
  the 
  first 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  this 
  Northern 
  Army 
  nothing 
  remained 
  of 
  this 
  corn 
  but 
  the 
  bare 
  stalks! 
  

   Every 
  expedient 
  was 
  resorted 
  to 
  by 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  to 
  protect 
  their 
  fields 
  of 
  corn, 
  but 
  

   all 
  in 
  vain. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  place 
  they 
  dug 
  trenches 
  around 
  their 
  fields 
  a 
  foot 
  and 
  a 
  

   half 
  deep, 
  hoping 
  this 
  might 
  prove 
  a 
  defense; 
  but 
  they 
  soon 
  filled 
  the 
  ditch, 
  and 
  the 
  

   millions 
  that 
  were 
  in 
  the 
  rear 
  went 
  over 
  on 
  the 
  backs 
  of 
  their 
  fellows 
  in 
  the 
  trench 
  

   and 
  took 
  possession 
  of 
  the 
  interdicted 
  food. 
  

  

  The 
  inhabitants 
  then 
  adopted 
  another 
  expedient 
  to 
  save 
  those 
  fields 
  yet 
  standing. 
  

   Thej^ 
  cut 
  a 
  trench 
  as 
  before 
  ; 
  then 
  took 
  round 
  and 
  smooth 
  sapling 
  sticks, 
  of 
  6 
  or 
  8 
  

   inches 
  diameter 
  and 
  6 
  or 
  8 
  feet 
  in 
  length, 
  sharpened 
  them 
  to 
  a 
  point, 
  and 
  with 
  these 
  

   made 
  holes 
  in 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  ditch, 
  once 
  in 
  2 
  or 
  3 
  feet; 
  and, 
  as 
  their 
  meadows 
  

  

  