Aristotle, in his History of Animals, written about two hundred 

 years before the Christian era, while treating of insects gives us noth- 

 ing whatever of an economic nature concerning them. Pliny, in his 

 great work on the History of the World, written about the year 77 

 of the Christian era, has given much of interest concerning the work 

 of insects and the methods of destroying them adopted in those times. 

 In tbe eleventh book of this work, page 327, it is stated that "if the 

 spring be wet and rainy the eggs of locusts, which have remained in the 

 ground during the winter, perish and do not hatch." Pliny further states 

 that " whole armies of locusts often come from Africa into Italy," and 

 many a time the people of Rome, fearing a famine, had recourse to the 

 Sibylline books for a remedy and to avert the wrath of the gods. These 

 books were supposed to contain the fate of the Roman Empire In the 

 Cyrenian Province of Barbary, it was ordered bylaw that all the inhabi- 

 tants should wage war against the locusts, first by hunting for their 

 eggs and crushing them, second by killing the young, and lastly by 

 destroying the adults. A severe punishment was inflicted on those who 

 neglected to perforin this duty. On the island of Stalimni it was deter- 

 mined just what quantity each man should kill, and the full measure 

 was required to be exhibited to the magistrate. The people made 

 much account of the assistance rendered by the jays and other birds in 

 destroying the locusts. This account given by Pliny is the earliest 

 concerning the enactment of laws for the destruction of insects that I 

 have anywhere found. 



This is more in accordance with our modern ideas on economic ento- 

 mology than the remedy given by Cato for caterpillars on fruit trees, 

 which was to moisten the tips of the twigs with the gall of a green 

 lizard, or the remedy for cankerworms given by Pliny, which was to 

 hang the bones of a mare's head on the pales around the garden. He 

 emphasizes the fact that the bones must be those of a female, as those 

 of the male would prove of no avail. It appears that the common 

 people needed special cautioning in these matters in the days of Pliny, 

 just as they do to-day. 



In the twenty-fifth book, chapter five, Pliny says that if white helle- 

 bore be powdered and put into milk all the flies that eat of it will be 

 destroyed. This is the earliest mention I have found of the use of 

 white hellebore as an insecticide. I do not know who claims the honor 

 of the discovery of hellebore as an insecticide in modern times. 



The next account, in order of time, that I have been able to find is 

 given by Berg in his History of the German Forests. In the year 875 

 hosts of grasshoppers appeared on the Rhine and destroyed all the 

 grass and grain. The remedies employed for their destruction were by 

 the priests, who went in procession around the infested fields, carrying 

 holy relics and making intercessory prayers, "but," adds the chronicler, 

 " it was of no avail." This was said to be the oldest record to be found 

 of methods of treating insects in German lands and was taken from 

 the Bavarian chronicle of Aventinus. 



