198 SYLVA FLOHIFERA. 



human body, breeds a canker in its bosom, 

 that often destroys its heart. 



" She never told her love, 



But let concealment, like a worm i'the bud, 



Prey on her damask cheek." Shakspeare. 



— . " Death's subtle seed within, 



(Sly, treacherous miner !) working in the dark, 



***** 



The worm to riot on that rose so red, 

 Unfaded, ere it fell ; one moment's prey !" 



Young. 



The principal enemy of the rose is a species 

 of fly, called the rose Saw-fly, Tenthredo rosea^ 

 which pierces the tender flower-bud, and 

 thrusts an egg into the puncture, which soon 

 becomes a caterpillar, that nourishes itself by 

 eating away the heart of the young flower 

 and fruit down to where it joins the stalk. 

 It then loses its supply of nourishment, 

 droops to one side and dies, whilst the in- 

 sect spins itself a descending rope, by which 

 it reaches the ground, and there entombs its 

 body in a silken shell, whilst its transform- 

 ation takes place first into a chrysalis, and 

 then a fly, which renews this work of de- 

 vastation. There are several flies of this 

 genus, that are all equally injurious to the 

 rose-tree. These flies are furnished with a 

 very remarkable instrument, in the shape of a 

 saw, by which they make small holes in the 



