﻿94 
  EEPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  ■vrere 
  bottom 
  lands, 
  they 
  experienced 
  no 
  difficulty 
  in 
  extending 
  these 
  holes 
  to 
  2 
  or 
  3 
  

   feet 
  in 
  dex)th 
  below 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  the 
  trench. 
  The 
  sides 
  of 
  these 
  holes 
  were 
  made 
  

   smooth 
  by 
  the 
  bar 
  or 
  lever 
  which 
  made 
  the 
  holes, 
  and 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  the 
  worm 
  stepped 
  

   from 
  the 
  precipice 
  he 
  ended 
  at 
  the 
  bottom, 
  and 
  could 
  not 
  ascend 
  again; 
  indeed, 
  he 
  

   was 
  soon 
  buried 
  by 
  his 
  unfortunate 
  fellows 
  who 
  succeeded 
  him 
  in 
  his 
  downfall. 
  Now 
  

   those 
  who 
  made 
  these 
  holes 
  to 
  entrap 
  their 
  invaders 
  went 
  around 
  their 
  fields 
  and 
  

   plunged 
  these 
  pointed 
  levers 
  into 
  the 
  holes 
  filled 
  with 
  Worms, 
  and 
  destroyed 
  every 
  

   one 
  of 
  them 
  at 
  a 
  single 
  thrust, 
  Avhether 
  it 
  was 
  a 
  peck 
  or 
  a 
  half 
  bushel. 
  By 
  unremit- 
  

   ting 
  eifort 
  in 
  this 
  way, 
  some 
  reserved 
  to 
  themselves 
  corn 
  enough 
  for 
  seed 
  the 
  next 
  

   year. 
  

  

  About 
  the 
  1st 
  of 
  September 
  the 
  worms 
  suddenly 
  disappeared; 
  and 
  where 
  they 
  ter- 
  

   minated 
  their 
  earthly 
  career 
  is 
  unknown, 
  for 
  not 
  the 
  carcass 
  of 
  a 
  worm 
  was 
  seen. 
  In 
  

   just 
  eleven 
  years 
  afterward, 
  in 
  1781, 
  the 
  same 
  kind 
  of 
  worm 
  appeared 
  again, 
  and 
  the 
  

   fears 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  were 
  much 
  excited 
  ; 
  but 
  they 
  were 
  comparatively 
  few 
  in 
  number, 
  

   and 
  no 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  has 
  ever 
  been 
  seen 
  since. 
  

  

  He 
  then 
  goes 
  on 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  for 
  the 
  pumpkins^ 
  

   which 
  thrived 
  marvelously 
  in 
  the 
  corn-fields 
  after 
  the 
  grain 
  had 
  been 
  

   destroyed 
  by 
  the 
  worms, 
  many 
  people 
  would 
  have 
  died 
  the 
  ensuing 
  

   winter 
  from 
  the 
  scarcity 
  of 
  food 
  consequent 
  upon 
  the 
  ravages 
  of 
  the 
  

   worms. 
  The 
  extraordinary 
  abundance 
  of 
  wild 
  pigeons 
  also 
  helped 
  to 
  

   sustain 
  ma^iy 
  who 
  otherwise 
  would 
  have 
  perished. 
  

  

  The 
  account 
  which 
  Fitch 
  quotes 
  from 
  Noah 
  Webster 
  on 
  Pestilential 
  

   Diseases 
  (I, 
  259) 
  may 
  here 
  be 
  given, 
  as 
  it 
  presents 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  points 
  of 
  

   difference 
  from 
  Powers's 
  account, 
  which 
  are 
  italicized. 
  

  

  In 
  1770 
  a 
  black 
  worm 
  about 
  an 
  inch 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  long 
  devoured 
  the 
  grass 
  and 
  corn. 
  

   Never 
  was 
  a 
  more 
  singular 
  phenomenon. 
  These 
  animals 
  were 
  generated 
  suddenly 
  in 
  

   the 
  Northern 
  States 
  of 
  America, 
  and 
  almost 
  covered 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  hundred 
  miles 
  of 
  

   co'jutry. 
  They 
  all 
  moved 
  nearly 
  in 
  one 
  direction, 
  and 
  when 
  they 
  were 
  intercepted 
  

   by 
  furrows 
  in 
  ploughed 
  land 
  they 
  fell 
  into 
  them 
  in 
  such 
  numbers 
  as 
  to 
  form 
  heaps^ 
  

   They 
  sought 
  shelter 
  in 
  the 
  grass, 
  a 
  hot 
  sun 
  being 
  fatal 
  to 
  them. 
  They 
  disappeared 
  suddenly 
  

   about 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  June 
  or 
  beginning 
  of 
  July. 
  

  

  From 
  Powers's 
  description 
  of 
  the 
  worm 
  alone 
  much 
  doubt 
  might 
  ex- 
  

   ist 
  as 
  to 
  its 
  identity 
  with 
  Leucania. 
  Indeed 
  it 
  applies 
  much 
  more 
  closely 
  

   to 
  a 
  large 
  sphiul 
  larva^ 
  the 
  Deilephila 
  Imeata, 
  Fabr. 
  It 
  may, 
  however^ 
  

   have 
  been 
  written 
  some 
  years 
  afterwards, 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  worms 
  having 
  

   become 
  magnified 
  in 
  the 
  memory 
  of 
  the 
  writer, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  details 
  con- 
  

   fused. 
  Webster, 
  as 
  is 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  quotation, 
  gives 
  more 
  nearly 
  

   the 
  correct 
  size, 
  and, 
  all 
  things 
  considered, 
  the 
  worm 
  was 
  most 
  probably 
  

   the 
  true 
  Army 
  Worm. 
  

  

  In 
  1790 
  Webster 
  again 
  records 
  their 
  api)e^rance, 
  this 
  time 
  in 
  Con- 
  

   necticut, 
  as 
  follows 
  : 
  

  

  In 
  1790 
  millions 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  worms 
  noticed 
  in 
  1770 
  reappeared 
  in 
  Connecticut, 
  

   appearing 
  at 
  Hartford 
  and 
  Norwich, 
  and 
  disappearing 
  in 
  these 
  places 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time. 
  They 
  were 
  very 
  destructive 
  to 
  the 
  grass 
  and 
  corn, 
  but 
  their 
  existence 
  wa& 
  

   ehortj 
  all 
  dying 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  weeks. 
  

  

  In 
  1817 
  the 
  worms 
  again 
  appeared 
  in 
  Massachusetts, 
  Kew 
  York, 
  and 
  

   other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  Fitch 
  quotes 
  from 
  the 
  Albany 
  Argus 
  as 
  fol- 
  

   lows 
  : 
  

  

  Worcester, 
  Mag 
  22. 
  — 
  We 
  learn 
  that 
  the 
  blacl< 
  ivorm 
  is 
  making, 
  great 
  ravages 
  on 
  some 
  

   farms 
  in 
  this 
  town, 
  and 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  places 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  Their 
  march 
  

  

  