DISEASES OF THE COTTON PLANT. 211 
to be distinguislied from the leaf on which they are de- 
posited. The eggs of the boll-worm moth hatched in 
three or four days after being brought in from the field, 
and the young worms soon commenced feeding upon the 
parenchyma, or tender fleshy substance of the calyx, on the 
outside, near where the egg was laid. When they had 
gained strength, they pierced through the outer calyx, 
some through the petals into the enclosed flower-bud, 
while others penetrated the boll itself. Sometimes the 
pistil and stamens are found to be distorted and discolored, 
which is caused by the young worm, when inside the bud, 
eating the stamens and injuring the pistil, so that it is 
drawn over to one side. When this is the case, the young 
worm bores through the bottom of the flower into the 
young boll before the old corolla, pistil, and stamens fall 
off, leaving the young boll, inner calyx, and outer calyx, or 
involucel, still adhering to the foot-stalk, with the y^ng 
worm safe in the growing boll. 
The number of buds destroyed by this worm is very 
great, as they fall off when quite young, and are scarcely 
observed as they lie, brown and withering, on the ground. 
The instinct of the caterpillar, however, teaches it to for- 
sake a bud or boll about to fall, and either to seek another 
or to fasten itself to a leaf, on which it remains until the 
skin is shed ; it then attacks another bud or boll in a sim- 
ilar manner, until, at length, it acquires size and strength 
sufficient to enable it to bore into the nearly-matured bolls, 
which are entirely destroyed by its punctures ; for, if the 
interior is not devoured, the rain penetrates the boll, and 
the cotton soon becomes rotten and of no value. 
The rotted bolls serve also for food and shelter to nu- 
merous small insects, such as those already mentioned, and 
which have been erroneously accused of causing the rot. 
