No. 150.] 
317 
ample in its details than any that has been hitherto attempted, and 
containing a complete summary of all that is known of this insect 
down to the present day. 
It is a European Insect. 
For several years subsequent to the first appearance of the Hes¬ 
sian fly in this country, it was universally believed to have been de¬ 
rived from abroad. When, however, the severe devastations which 
it was committing upon this continentfbecame known in Europe, 
public attention was so strongly excited as to lead to an extensive 
and thorough search for the insect there. The result of this inves¬ 
tigation, as given by Sir Joseph Banks in his report to the British 
government, was, that “no such insect could be found to exist in 
Germany or any other part of Europe.” It was in consequence, 
received as an established fact, and assented to on all hands, that 
this was an exclusively American species. Of late years, however, 
new light has been shed upon this subject; and we now proceed to 
detail the evidence which induces us to believe that the Hessian fly 
is indeed a European insect. 
It would appear that this insect, or one identical with it in its 
characters and habits, did exist, and commit severe ravages in Eu¬ 
rope, long anterior to its appearance in America. In DuhameFs 
Practical Treatise of Husbandry , (London, 1759, 4to. p. 90,) and 
also in his Elements of Agriculture , (Lond. 1764, Svo., vol. i., p. 
269,) after alluding to a worm in the root of oats, he says, “ I sus¬ 
pect it to have been an insect of this kind that destroyed so much 
wheat in the neighborhood of Geneva, and which M. de Chateau- 
vieux describes thus : ‘ Our wheat in the present month of May, 
1755, sustained a loss, which even that cultivated according to the 
new husbandry has not escaped. A number of small white worms 
have been found on it, which , after a time, turn to a chestnut color; 
they place themselves betwixt the leaves , and gnaw the stalk ; they 
are commonly found betwixt the first joint and the root ; the stalks 
on which they fix are immediately at a stand ; they grow yellow and 
wither. The same accident happened in 1732 : these insects ap¬ 
peared about the middle of May, and did so much damage that the 
crops were scarcely worth anything.’ ” This account, though per- 
