﻿WAGNER 
  ON 
  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY. 
  [29] 
  

  

  who 
  landed 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  In 
  August, 
  1776, 
  we, 
  in 
  the 
  examination, 
  

   could 
  satisfy 
  ourselves 
  solely 
  as 
  to 
  this 
  transport 
  of 
  troops 
  ; 
  however, 
  

   providing 
  the 
  case, 
  that 
  the 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  was, 
  x)erhaps, 
  ac- 
  

   cording 
  to 
  other 
  American 
  authors, 
  in 
  1777, 
  we 
  will 
  also 
  include 
  the 
  

   two 
  other 
  transports. 
  The 
  desired 
  explanation 
  as 
  to 
  these 
  transports 
  

   we 
  find 
  in 
  the 
  " 
  Biographic 
  des 
  Generals 
  von 
  Ochs, 
  heraasae^eheu 
  von 
  

   Leopold 
  Freiherrn 
  von 
  Hohenhausen. 
  Cassel, 
  1827.'' 
  Major 
  Pfister, 
  

   in 
  the 
  second 
  volume 
  (page 
  380) 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Zeitschrift 
  des 
  hessischen 
  Ge- 
  

   schichts-Yereins 
  in 
  1770. 
  Gassel, 
  1810," 
  gives 
  a 
  better 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  

   transport 
  of 
  troops. 
  We 
  borrow 
  the 
  following 
  from 
  the 
  two 
  sources 
  : 
  

   The 
  20,000 
  mercenary 
  soldiers 
  engaged 
  by 
  the 
  English 
  ministry 
  con- 
  

   sisted 
  of 
  Hessians, 
  Hanoverians, 
  Brunswigians, 
  Anspachians, 
  and 
  

   Waldeckians. 
  The 
  Hessian 
  corps 
  alone 
  amounted 
  to 
  12,000 
  men, 
  in 
  

   two 
  sections. 
  One 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  Hessian 
  division 
  marched 
  from 
  

   Oassel, 
  in 
  March, 
  1776, 
  and 
  was 
  embarked 
  at 
  Eitzeblittel; 
  cast 
  anchor 
  

   on 
  the 
  6th 
  of 
  May 
  before 
  Portsmouth 
  ; 
  landed 
  on 
  July 
  7 
  at 
  Halifax, 
  

   and 
  at 
  Utrecht, 
  L. 
  L, 
  on 
  August 
  12, 
  at 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  the 
  English 
  Gen- 
  

   eral 
  Howe 
  was 
  restricted 
  to 
  the 
  possession 
  of 
  Staten 
  and 
  Long 
  Islands 
  

   only. 
  According 
  to 
  an 
  autographical 
  memorandum 
  the 
  other 
  part 
  of 
  

   this 
  troop-division 
  left 
  Bremen 
  on 
  April 
  17, 
  arriving 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  at 
  

   the 
  same 
  time 
  with 
  the 
  others. 
  The 
  second 
  Hessian 
  division 
  left 
  

   Oassel 
  in 
  May, 
  1776, 
  and 
  lauded 
  at 
  La 
  Eochelle 
  October 
  22. 
  The 
  four 
  

   Yager 
  battalions 
  sent 
  after 
  were 
  embarked 
  on 
  the 
  Fulda, 
  May 
  18, 
  1777; 
  

   they 
  landed 
  at 
  Sandy 
  Hook 
  September 
  27. 
  The 
  still 
  later 
  military 
  

   transports, 
  about 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  Seume, 
  in 
  his 
  biography, 
  has 
  left 
  us 
  a 
  

   humorous 
  representation, 
  do 
  not 
  concern 
  us 
  in 
  this 
  matter. 
  On 
  the 
  

   average 
  it 
  took 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  above-mentioned 
  troop 
  divisions 
  about 
  four 
  

   months 
  to 
  cross, 
  although 
  the 
  vessels 
  landed 
  nowhere, 
  anchored 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  for 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  at 
  Portsmouth, 
  the 
  meeting 
  place 
  of 
  the 
  auxiliary 
  

   troops. 
  

  

  With 
  these 
  facts 
  we 
  will 
  argue 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  with 
  special 
  

   reference 
  to 
  its 
  food-plants, 
  to 
  see 
  how 
  Fitch's 
  and 
  his 
  followers' 
  state- 
  

   ments 
  agree. 
  

  

  Our 
  wheat 
  here 
  sprouts 
  at 
  about 
  Saiot 
  John's 
  day, 
  and 
  a 
  little 
  later 
  

   we 
  notice 
  a 
  bending 
  of 
  some 
  stalks 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  attacks 
  of 
  the 
  worm, 
  

   which 
  increases 
  with 
  every 
  successive 
  day. 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  all 
  maggots 
  

   of 
  our 
  gall-gnat 
  with 
  few 
  exceptions 
  have 
  already 
  entered 
  the 
  pseudo- 
  

   pupa 
  state; 
  the 
  feeding 
  has 
  just 
  ceased. 
  If 
  we 
  now 
  collect 
  some 
  of 
  

   the 
  infected 
  straw 
  and 
  preserve 
  it 
  in 
  a 
  proper 
  place, 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  the 
  

   maggots 
  goes 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  shell; 
  but 
  if 
  this 
  gathering 
  hap- 
  

   pens 
  before 
  the 
  maggots 
  have 
  entered 
  their 
  resting 
  state, 
  i. 
  e., 
  about 
  

   two 
  weeks 
  previous, 
  when 
  they 
  still 
  feed, 
  they 
  soon 
  die. 
  From 
  this 
  in- 
  

   disputably 
  follows 
  that, 
  if 
  those 
  Hessian 
  troops 
  had 
  reall}^ 
  used 
  for 
  

   packing 
  straw 
  infected 
  with 
  pseudo-pupge 
  of 
  our 
  insect 
  it 
  could 
  not 
  

   have 
  been 
  mowed 
  before 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  June. 
  In 
  a 
  dry 
  summer 
  the 
  wheat 
  

   harvest 
  begins 
  here 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  August; 
  rye 
  usually 
  ripens 
  a 
  

   week 
  before 
  wheat 
  does. 
  Winter 
  cereals 
  mowed 
  before 
  harvest 
  would, 
  

   however, 
  require 
  a 
  previous 
  drying 
  to 
  be 
  used 
  for 
  packing. 
  But 
  how, 
  

   if 
  already 
  in 
  middle 
  of 
  May, 
  not 
  to 
  say 
  March, 
  when 
  both 
  cereals 
  are 
  

   still 
  in 
  a 
  green 
  grassy 
  condition, 
  could 
  such 
  an 
  occurrence 
  have 
  hap- 
  

   pened 
  1 
  And 
  where 
  could 
  the 
  pseudo-pupse 
  have 
  come 
  from, 
  from 
  which 
  

   the 
  flies 
  issued, 
  which, 
  as 
  alleged, 
  settled 
  them 
  on 
  Long 
  Island? 
  

  

  We 
  see 
  that 
  Fitch 
  has, 
  to 
  support 
  his 
  theory, 
  made 
  assumptions 
  which 
  

   not 
  only 
  disagree 
  with 
  the 
  developmental 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  insect, 
  but 
  which 
  

   also 
  appear 
  to 
  one 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  agriculture 
  of 
  our 
  country 
  as 
  ridic- 
  

   ulous 
  and 
  absurd. 
  The 
  difference 
  in 
  climate 
  and 
  agriculture 
  between 
  

  

  