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ri. Some of the birds of the Vultur-kind are extremely useful to man, by destroying immense quantities of car- 
rion, which serve to vitiate the air, and perhaps in some instances to give rise to mahgnant epidemics. The Vultur 
Aura, or Turkey-Buzzard of our country, is one of the most useful of these birds. In Virginia it is protected 
by a law of that state. The Abbe Clavigero speaks of the usefulness of the Cozcaquauhtli, or King of the Zopi- 
lots, the Vultur Papa of Linnaeus. " The Zopilot, says this writer, is a most useful bird to that country (Mexico), 
for they not only clear the fields, but attend the crocodiles and destroy the eggs which the females of those dread- 
ful amphibious animals leave in the sand to be hatched by the heat of the sun. The destruction of such a bird 
ought to be prohibited under severe penalties." * 
; am lensible, that these few facts, which are thrown together without any regard to order, can be of little use except 
in as far as they may turn the attention of other persons, who possess more leisure and information than myself, to the 
subject, which is at once curious and important. It appears to to me be a subject peculiarly interesting to my coun- 
trymen. Perhaps, few parts of the world are more infested with noxious insects than the United-States. The 
greater number of these insects are, I believe, natives of the country, though our partiality to the soil which 
gave us birth has not always allowed us to acknowledge this truth. Thus we give to the Hessians the honour of in- 
troducing among us that most pernicious insect, the Hessian-Fly, which, for several years, has committed, and 
still commits, such alarming ravages on some of our most valuable grains, particularly the Wheat and the Rye. 
But this insect is, undoubtedly, a native of America. How it came to be, for so long a time, 'overlooked, will 
probably be mentioned in a memoir, concerning this and other noxious insects, which I hope to publish. 
lany of the pernicious insects of the United-States seem to be increasing, instead of diminishing. Some of these 
insects which originally confined their ravages to the native or wild vegetables, have since begun their depredations 
upon the foreign vegetables, which are often more agreeable to their palates. Thus the Bruchus Pisi, or Pea-Fly, 
is a native, and seems originally to have fed, in a great measure unnoticed, upon the indigenous vegetables which 
are allied to the Pea : but since the introduction of this last f among us, it is the principal, if not the onl}^, vege- 
table which suffers from the ravages of this insect. The Hessian-Fly could not originally have inhabited the 
Wheat, the Rye, and other similar gramina of this kind, for these vegetables are not natives of America. It is 
now more formidable to us than would be an army of twenty thousand Hessians, or of any other twenty thousand 
hirelings, supplied with all the implements of war. The caterpillar, which has begun its ravages upon the leaves 
of the Lombardy Poplar, J that contributes so much to beautify our city, is most probably a native of our 
woods. It prefers this line foreigner to the less palatable leaves upon which it has been formerly accustomed 
to feed. Other instances of this kind might be mentioned. They show how very necessary it is to watch the 
migrations of insects from the native to the introduced vegetables ; and they teach us a truth, not I think suffi- 
ciently attended to by naturalists, that different kinds of insects are much less confined to vegetables of the same 
species, or to species of the same genus, than has been commonly imagined. It is certain, that the same species 
of insects, in America, often feeds indiscriminately, and in succession, upon plants of very opposite genera, and 
f ven of very different natural orders. 
litherto, too little progress has been made among us in the discovery of remedies for the great mischiefs occasioned 
I by insects. The subject has not been examined with sufficient attention. It has given place to discussions and 
j inquiries of very inferior utility ; and I fear it will not claim all that industrious attention which it so well merits, 
j until the evil shall have spread still farther. It is, doubtless, difficult, but it is by no means impossible, to prevent 
i the ravages of noxious insects. In this important business, something has already been done in our country. 
We have discovered a method of diminishing the depredations of the little bug, called Cucumber-Fly, which 
proves so destructive to the cucurbitaceous vines, particularly those of the Cucumber, and Musk-melon. § By 
manuring our wheat-lands, and thereby increasing the strength and vigour of the wheat, we have lessened the 
€vil of the Hessian-Fly. By suspending to our young apple and other trees pieces of tow, impregnated with a 
mixture of brimstone and train-oil, we have learned how to frighten away the periodical Locusts (Cicada septem- 
» The History of Mexico. Vol. I. P. 48. t Pisum sativum. I Populus dilatata of Aiton. ^ See the Tables. Page 4, 
F 
