﻿[46] 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  devastated 
  field, 
  will 
  recognize 
  and 
  remember 
  the 
  fact. 
  Moreover^ 
  

   there 
  has 
  not 
  existed, 
  nor 
  does 
  there 
  exist 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  U. 
  S., 
  according 
  

   to 
  Dr, 
  Fitches 
  own 
  writings^ 
  an 
  insect 
  which 
  produces 
  similar 
  ravages. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Fitch 
  makes 
  similar 
  objections 
  to 
  the 
  statement 
  of 
  Mr. 
  Mitchell 
  

   that 
  the 
  fly 
  had 
  appeared 
  on 
  Long 
  Island 
  in 
  1776, 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  

   the 
  troops. 
  He 
  says 
  the 
  devastations 
  were 
  conspicuous 
  and 
  liable 
  to 
  

   attract 
  attention, 
  and 
  leaves 
  us 
  in 
  the 
  dark 
  when 
  Col. 
  Morgan 
  states 
  

   that 
  in 
  1778 
  the 
  fly 
  made 
  its 
  first 
  appearance, 
  and 
  directly 
  after 
  that 
  Mr. 
  

   Clark 
  states 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  made 
  its 
  first 
  appearance 
  in 
  1779, 
  so 
  that 
  at 
  

   least 
  one 
  of 
  them 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  mistaken. 
  

  

  III. 
  The 
  fly 
  was 
  not 
  Icnown 
  to 
  exist 
  in 
  Germany 
  before 
  1857. 
  

  

  The 
  fly 
  must 
  have 
  existed 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  in 
  Germany 
  before 
  it 
  could 
  

   have 
  been 
  imported 
  with 
  the 
  troops. 
  Dr. 
  Fitch 
  tries 
  to 
  settle 
  this 
  most 
  

   important 
  question 
  by 
  the 
  following 
  statements 
  : 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Duhamel, 
  in 
  Monceau 
  (I 
  have 
  compared 
  the 
  original), 
  says 
  that 
  

   " 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  white 
  worms 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  wheat 
  near 
  Geneva, 
  

   in 
  1755, 
  which 
  after 
  a 
  time 
  turn 
  to 
  a 
  chestnut 
  color 
  ; 
  they 
  place 
  them- 
  

   selves 
  betwixt 
  the 
  leaves 
  and 
  gnaw 
  the 
  static 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  commonly 
  found 
  

   betwixt 
  the 
  first 
  joint 
  and 
  the 
  root 
  j 
  these 
  animals 
  appeared 
  about 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  MayJ'^ 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  rather 
  strange 
  that 
  just 
  this 
  passage 
  has 
  been 
  quoted 
  and 
  always 
  

   reprinted. 
  Mr. 
  Duhamel 
  says 
  plainly, 
  '^ 
  The 
  larva 
  gnaws 
  the 
  stalk." 
  

   Now 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Fitch 
  says 
  (p. 
  33), 
  " 
  The 
  larva 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  lives 
  upon 
  

   the 
  sap 
  ; 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  gnaw 
  the 
  stalJc.^^ 
  And 
  l)r. 
  Packard 
  says 
  (p. 
  15), 
  

   *' 
  Their 
  soft 
  and 
  fleshy 
  undeveloped 
  mouth 
  parts 
  do 
  7iot 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  

   gnaw 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  plant." 
  

  

  The 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  stalk 
  was 
  gnawed 
  shows 
  evidently 
  that 
  the 
  insect 
  

   was 
  not 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly, 
  but 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Oscinis; 
  the 
  larvae 
  of 
  some 
  

   species 
  of 
  which 
  would 
  gnaw 
  the 
  stalk— 
  or 
  perhaps 
  Opomyza 
  florum. 
  

   The 
  pupa 
  of 
  those 
  species 
  is 
  also 
  brown 
  and 
  appears 
  above 
  the 
  root 
  

   between 
  theleaves 
  and 
  the 
  stalk, 
  and 
  the 
  imago 
  appears 
  just 
  as 
  Duhamel 
  

   states, 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  May, 
  one 
  month 
  later 
  than 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly. 
  

   Prof. 
  J. 
  Kuehne 
  remarks 
  that 
  the 
  eflects 
  produced 
  upon 
  the 
  plants 
  by 
  

   Opomyza 
  are 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly. 
  

  

  Therefore 
  the 
  quotation 
  of 
  Duhamel 
  is 
  entirely 
  out 
  of 
  place, 
  and 
  this 
  

   is, 
  by 
  the 
  way, 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  by 
  which 
  the 
  existence 
  of 
  the 
  fly 
  in 
  Europe 
  

   before 
  the 
  war 
  has 
  been 
  corroborated. 
  I 
  have 
  gone 
  through 
  the 
  litera- 
  

   ture 
  from 
  J.770 
  tO 
  1804, 
  without 
  finding 
  any 
  statement 
  of 
  similar 
  devasta 
  

   tions 
  of 
  wheat, 
  for 
  Germany, 
  for 
  France, 
  and 
  for 
  Spain. 
  There 
  exist 
  a 
  

   number 
  of 
  books 
  where 
  such 
  a 
  calamity 
  in 
  France 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  

   noted 
  if 
  it 
  had 
  existed. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  not 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  consult 
  the 
  long 
  and 
  detailed 
  report 
  of 
  Sir 
  

   Joseph 
  Banks 
  to 
  the 
  British 
  Government. 
  An 
  extract 
  given 
  by 
  Kirby 
  

   and 
  Spence 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  fly 
  did 
  not 
  exist 
  in 
  England 
  in 
  1788, 
  and 
  

   that 
  nowhere 
  on 
  the 
  continent 
  its 
  existence 
  or 
  similar 
  devastations 
  were 
  

   known. 
  

  

  In 
  1834, 
  Prof. 
  Kollar, 
  of 
  Vienna, 
  in 
  his 
  treatise 
  on 
  injurious 
  insects, 
  

   published 
  an 
  account 
  on 
  some 
  devastations 
  done 
  by 
  the 
  Hessian 
  fly 
  — 
  he 
  

   has 
  first 
  in 
  Europe 
  used 
  this 
  name 
  for 
  a 
  European 
  species 
  — 
  in 
  Alt 
  en 
  - 
  

   burg, 
  Hungary, 
  and 
  in 
  Weikendorft*, 
  17 
  miles 
  from 
  Pressburg, 
  an 
  estate 
  

   belonging 
  to 
  the 
  Prince 
  of 
  Sachsen-Coburg. 
  Dr. 
  A. 
  Fitch 
  quotes 
  both 
  as 
  

   '-'- 
  Saxe 
  Altenburg 
  and 
  Saxe 
  Ooburg, 
  about 
  a 
  hundred 
  miles 
  distant 
  from 
  

   Hesse 
  Cassel." 
  '' 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  strange 
  geographical 
  mistake," 
  says 
  Dr. 
  Th. 
  

   W. 
  Harris 
  (Oorresp. 
  p. 
  189), 
  " 
  to 
  transport 
  those 
  localities 
  to 
  Saxe, 
  

   whereof 
  Altenburg 
  is 
  400 
  miles 
  distant, 
  and 
  Weikeodorfl" 
  near 
  the 
  bor- 
  

   der 
  of 
  Hungary, 
  about 
  375 
  miles 
  distant." 
  Nevertheless 
  Dr. 
  Packard 
  

  

  