DISEASES OF THE COTTON PLANT. 153 
many otters, that are ever on tlie searcli for living victims 
amongst tlie noxious tribes, and which serve to keep the 
numbers of the latter within proper bounds. 
Thus, it is highly necessary to!»be able to recognize the 
injurious from the comparatively innocuous as well as the 
useful insects, and I have therefore thought proper to de- 
scribe and figure most of those which infest the cotton 
fields, as many of them feed upon or injure the plants in 
one State or another; and, although they may do but 
little injury at first, yet were they to multiply as fast as 
some others, they would eventually become as great a 
nuisance as the boll-worm is at present. According to a 
communication from Colonel Whitner, of Tallahassee, in 
Florida, the latter insect was scarcely known in that region 
before the year 1841 ; but it has since increased to such 
an extent as to cause an immense yearly loss to the 
planters. 
Several methods of destroying insects on plantations 
and elsewhere have been recommended, one of which is 
the use of fire or burning torches. The innumerable 
myriads of nocturnal moths, being attracted by the lights, 
burn their wings as they hover around, and are either de- 
-stroyed at once or disabled from flying about to deposit 
their eggs in distant parts of the field. A species of lan- 
tern has been used for entrapping such as are attracted by 
light, and with some success. It is formed of a top, bot- 
tom, and back, made of wood, with a glass front and sides, 
a little more than a foot square, according to the size of 
the glasses used. The front is supported by a pillar at 
each corner ; on the inside of the back of the lantern is 
fastened a tin or glass reflector. The three glazed sides 
consist of two panes, sliding in grooves, made in the top 
and bottom boards, and meeting in the middle at an angle 
1* 
