﻿WAGNER 
  ON 
  THE 
  HESSIAN 
  FLY. 
  [31] 
  

  

  contradictory 
  to 
  them. 
  That 
  every 
  support 
  is 
  now 
  fully 
  removed 
  from 
  

   his 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  alleged 
  introduction 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  by 
  Hessian 
  soldiers 
  

   is 
  proved 
  by 
  the 
  following 
  circumstance 
  : 
  None 
  of 
  the 
  earlier 
  publica- 
  

   tions 
  give 
  tidings 
  of 
  the 
  occurrence 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  Kurhes- 
  

   sen 
  ; 
  a 
  devastation 
  of 
  cereals 
  is 
  still 
  less 
  known 
  wliich 
  could 
  in 
  any 
  

   way 
  be 
  compared 
  with 
  the 
  late 
  catastrophe. 
  Such 
  devastation 
  ought 
  

   to 
  have 
  happened 
  occasionally, 
  at 
  least, 
  in 
  some 
  districts 
  during 
  a 
  space 
  

   of 
  more 
  than 
  eighty 
  years. 
  The 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  later 
  years 
  is 
  

   therefore 
  an 
  entirely 
  new 
  phenomenon. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  arrived 
  at 
  the 
  following 
  result: 
  The 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  was 
  orig- 
  

   inally 
  not 
  a 
  Hessian 
  fly, 
  and 
  therefore 
  we 
  must 
  answer 
  the 
  question 
  

   put 
  on 
  this 
  paragraph, 
  whether 
  the 
  name 
  "Hessian 
  fly" 
  is 
  justified 
  

   before 
  the 
  tribunal 
  of 
  science, 
  in 
  the 
  negative. 
  I 
  now 
  return 
  to 
  our 
  gall- 
  

   gnat 
  the 
  fully 
  justified 
  original 
  name 
  given 
  to 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  first 
  author, 
  

   henceforth 
  calling 
  it 
  wheat-destroyer 
  (destructor). 
  

  

  It 
  would 
  not 
  be 
  without 
  interest, 
  to 
  see 
  from 
  the 
  wording 
  of 
  the 
  state- 
  

   ments 
  published 
  in 
  America 
  in 
  the 
  first 
  years 
  of 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  

   Cecidomyla 
  destructor, 
  whether 
  the 
  term 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  was 
  In 
  the 
  begin- 
  

   ning 
  really 
  used 
  without 
  any 
  secondary 
  signification. 
  

  

  §8.— 
  Attempt 
  at 
  a 
  new 
  theory 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  insect. 
  

  

  Having 
  definitely 
  denied 
  that 
  the 
  wheat-destroyer 
  is 
  indigenous 
  in 
  

   Kurhessen, 
  I 
  draw 
  the 
  reader's 
  attention 
  to 
  certain 
  facts, 
  which 
  may 
  per- 
  

   haps 
  throw 
  some 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  insect. 
  We 
  know 
  the 
  inti- 
  

   mate 
  connection 
  of 
  several 
  phytophagous 
  insects 
  with 
  their 
  food-plants. 
  

   It 
  is 
  certain, 
  for 
  instance, 
  that 
  Spliinx 
  nerii, 
  which 
  even 
  in 
  our 
  climate 
  

   transforms 
  out 
  of 
  doors, 
  was 
  acclimatized 
  in 
  Germany 
  by 
  the 
  introduc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  Nerium 
  splendens 
  from 
  southern 
  Europe. 
  Termes 
  flavicolUs 
  Fabri- 
  

   cius 
  became 
  distributed 
  over 
  southern 
  Europe 
  and 
  southern 
  France, 
  

   having 
  been 
  introduced 
  with 
  tropical 
  plants. 
  Coccus 
  adonidum 
  and 
  G. 
  

   nerii 
  immigrated 
  in 
  a 
  similar 
  manner 
  into 
  our 
  hot-houses. 
  In 
  plants, 
  

   'which 
  already 
  in 
  prehistoric 
  times 
  took 
  possession 
  of 
  many 
  districts 
  of 
  

   the 
  earth 
  favorable 
  to 
  them, 
  the 
  connection 
  between 
  gradual 
  distribu- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  food-plant 
  and 
  of 
  its 
  harboring 
  insect 
  can 
  either 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  

   or 
  only 
  indirectly 
  be 
  proved. 
  The 
  difficulty 
  increases 
  when 
  the 
  insect 
  

   is 
  not 
  restricted 
  to 
  one 
  or 
  several 
  food 
  plants, 
  but, 
  according 
  to 
  cli- 
  

   mate 
  and 
  season, 
  or 
  in 
  its 
  separate 
  stages 
  of 
  growth, 
  changes 
  with 
  dif- 
  

   ferent 
  plants. 
  The 
  wheat 
  worm 
  was 
  hitherto 
  found 
  only 
  on 
  wheat, 
  rye, 
  

   and 
  barley 
  -, 
  its 
  history 
  is 
  inseparable 
  from 
  that 
  of 
  its 
  natural 
  food 
  

   plants 
  and 
  their 
  original 
  home 
  must 
  a 
  priori 
  be 
  also 
  its 
  home. 
  Wliere 
  

   is 
  the 
  original 
  home 
  of 
  our 
  cereals 
  ? 
  Their 
  culture 
  is 
  as 
  old 
  as 
  the 
  history 
  

   of 
  civilized 
  nations 
  j 
  since 
  all 
  over 
  the 
  area 
  where 
  civilization 
  has 
  taken 
  

   root 
  the 
  population 
  utilized 
  the 
  cereals. 
  All 
  results 
  obtained 
  by 
  numer- 
  

   ous 
  archaeological 
  and 
  natural 
  historical 
  inquiries 
  point 
  back 
  in 
  ac- 
  

   cordance 
  with 
  the 
  Bible 
  and 
  the 
  traditions 
  of 
  ancient 
  peoples 
  to 
  Asia 
  

   as 
  the 
  cradle 
  of 
  mankind, 
  wherefrom 
  all 
  culture, 
  especially 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   cereals, 
  came 
  forth. 
  There, 
  in 
  the 
  deserts 
  of 
  Persia, 
  on 
  the 
  shores 
  of 
  the 
  

   Euphrates, 
  &c., 
  is 
  where, 
  according 
  to 
  authentic 
  sources 
  nowadays, 
  

   wheat 
  and 
  barley 
  still 
  grow 
  under 
  conditions 
  which 
  would 
  not 
  accord 
  with 
  

   their 
  artificial 
  introduction. 
  In 
  those 
  original 
  localities 
  of 
  our 
  cereals 
  we 
  

   may 
  also 
  still 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  be 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  the 
  wheat 
  worm. 
  Loew's 
  

   own 
  experience, 
  '' 
  that 
  a 
  Cecidomyia 
  which 
  in 
  its 
  manner 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  

   metamorphosis 
  cannot 
  be 
  distinguished 
  from 
  C. 
  destructor 
  does 
  great 
  

   injury 
  to 
  the 
  wheat 
  crops 
  on 
  the 
  south 
  shore 
  of 
  Asia 
  Minor"* 
  favors 
  

  

  * 
  Loew. 
  in 
  his 
  iMonograph 
  on 
  gall-gnata. 
  

  

  