210 INDIRECT INJURIES CAUSED BY INSECTS. 



Germany from the attacks of a small beetle, ( Bostrichus 

 Typographus, F.,) so called on account of a fancied 

 resemblance between the paths it erodes and letters, 

 which bores into the fir. This insect, in its preparatory 

 state, feeds upon the soft inner bark only : but it attacks 

 this important part in such vast numbers, 80,000 being 

 sometimes found in a single tree, that it is infinitely more 

 noxious than any of those that bore into the wood : and 

 such is its vitality, that though the bark be battered and 

 the tree plunged into water, or laid upon the ice or snow, 

 it remains alive and unhurt. The leaves of the trees 

 infested by these insects first become yellow, the trees 

 themselves then die at the top, and soon entirely perish. 

 Their ravages have long been known in Germany under 

 the name of Wurm trbhiiss (decay caused by worms) ; and 

 in the old liturgies of that country the animal itself is 

 formally mentioned under its vulgar appellation, " The 

 Turk." This pest was particularly prevalent and caused 

 incalculable mischief about the year 1665. In the begin- 

 ning of the last century it again showed itself in the 

 Hartz forests— it reappeared in 1757, redoubled its in- 

 juries in 1769, and arrived at its height in 1783, when 

 the number of trees destroyed by it in the above forests 

 alone, was calculated at a million and a half, and the 

 inhabitants were threatened with a total suspension of 

 the working of their mines, and consequent ruin. At 

 this period these Bostrichi, when arrived at their perfect 

 state, migrated in swarms like bees into Suabia and Fran- 

 conia. At length, between the years 1784 and 1789, in 

 consequence of a succession of cold and moist seasons, 

 the numbers of this scourge were sensibly diminished. 

 It appeared again however in 1790, and so late as 1796 



