31 
second occupies the remainder of the spring and the summer, and 
is chiefly nurtured at the first and second joints of the straw. The 
time when its several transformations occur, is not perfectly uni- 
form, being varied by the climate, the state of the weather, and 
perhaps other contingencies; and it is not improbable that indi- 
vidual specimens, placed in circumstances unfavorable to their 
developement, have their growth retarded so much as to require 
even a whole year to complete their metamorphoses. 
First Generation. 
Tur Ecc. When and where deposited—The eggs of the first 
generation are deposited chiefly in the fore part of September. 
Dr. Chapman says the deposit is made from the latter end of Aus 
gust till the 20th of September, and most other accounts coincide 
with this, though some extend the time into October. On the 8th 
of October the fly was seen ovipositing in eastern Pennsylvania, in 
1819, and it had wholly disappeared on the 11th. (Amer. Far- 
mer, ii., 180.) The deposit is doubtless made later, at the south, 
than in this vicinity. Mr. Tilghman’s description of this process 
(Cultivator, viii., 82,) will convey so much more distinct a view 
to the general reader, than any other that has ever been published 
that we here insert it. He says, “ By the second week of Octo- 
ber, the first sown wheat being well up, and having generally put 
forth its second and third blades, I resorted to my field to endeavor 
to satisly myself by ocular demonstration, if I could do so, wheth- 
er the fly did deposit the egg on the blades of the growing plant. 
Selecting what I deemed to be a favorable Spot to make my ob- 
servation, I placed myself in position, by reclining in a furrow 
between two wheat lands. It was a fine, warm, calm forenoon; 
and I had been on the watch but a minute or two, betore I dis- 
covered a number of small black flies, alizhting and setting on 
the wheat plants around me; and so strong seemed to be their 
predilection for the wheat, that I did not observe a single fly to 
settle on any grass, or any thing within my view, but the wheat. 
I could distinctly see their bodies in motion when settled on the 
leaves or blades of the wheat, and presently one alighted and set- 
