62 



insect abonnds, it is so numerous as to cover the ground ; it blackens the stalks of the 

 plants upon which it feeds ; it fills the air when, at seasons of its mating, it takes win^ 

 for flight ; it marches to new feeding grounds in solid bodies, upon and over one 

 another ; its invading armies sweep over and utterly destroy a wheat or corn field in 

 two or three days ; and the nauseous bed-bug odour which they exhale sickens those 

 who are compelled to breathe it. 



" As the past history of the insect has shown that parasites and other enemies have 

 entirely failed to arrest its multiplication, we are compelled to believe, from present 

 indications, that it has come to stay, and that it will do so, unless effectual means are 

 taken to prevent it. Its capability of increase is wonderful. Under the most conser- 

 vative circumstances, a single chinch-bug, depositing its eggs about the 1st of June, 

 would be, in the following August, the progenitor of a quarter of a million." 



It is evidently most important that every practicable means should be employed in 

 the endeavour to arrest as far as possible the progress of this mischievous foe, and to 

 destroy it wherever found. Should it continue to increase, since it is already upon our 

 borders, it will in all probability establish itself in force in the adjacent districts in 

 Ontario, if indeed it has not done so already, and it may become to us a more formidable 

 enemy than the wheat midge. 



REMEDIES, 



Where the insects are found among the roots of timothy, it is recommended to 

 plough them under by turning over a flat (not overlapping) broad furrow as deep as 

 possible, but not less than eight inches. It is said that the insect cannot survive this 

 deep burial. Fire will certainly destroy it, and where the conditions of the grass will 

 admit of burning, this measure should be resorted to ; a thin covering of straw would 

 prove a material aid in the burning. Where neither of these remedies can be applied 

 the field should be heavily rolled as early in the spring as possible, for the purpose of 

 preventing the bugs which have hibernated, from gaining easy access to the roots of the 

 grass or grain on which to deposit their eggs. The use of common kerosine or coal oil 

 has also been recommended, made into an emulsion by forcibly agitating it for a 

 considerable time with an equal measure of milk, either sweet or sour, when it will 

 become thick almost like butter, which, diluted with water, should be sprayed over the 

 ground by means of a suitable pump ; or the oil may be emulsified by agitating it 

 thoroughly with a larger quantity of soapsuds and applied in the same manner. 



OBSERVATIONS ON FORM AND COLOUR, AS EXHIBITED IN INSECTS. 



By the Rev. Thomas W. Fyles, South Quebec. 



The most careless observer can hardly have failed to notice some of the peculiarities 

 in the motions of birds — the heavy flight of the heron, the short, quick strokes of the 

 wild duck, the serene gliding motion of the hawk — and tracing backward, in a measure, 

 the lines of causes and efiects, to associate these with diversities of structure. But to 

 those who are not careless — to those whom interest or pleasure has led to observe atten- 

 tively^ the movements of living creatures convey many a lesson. I once knew a man 

 who had been brought up in a lonely cottage, on an extensive piece of common land — 

 half moor, half fen — situated in the north-east of England. The spot was a favourite 

 breeding-ground of numberless wild fowl — mallards, shovellers, grey geese, black-headed 

 gulls, curlews, dottrells, red-shanks, etc. This man had made the study of natural history 

 his delight, and turned his knowledge to account in procuring a livelihood. He made 

 it a part of his business to supply plovers' eggs to the dealers ; and so closely had he 

 watched the green plover or lapwing that (as he assured me, and as my observations of 

 his prorreecJings led me to believe), he could not only tell from her motions whether the 



