ACTING STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
63 
it should prove to belong to one of the Cannibal genera of the Syrphus family, the 
reason why Mr. Riley failed to breed it becomes manifest at once. He supposed it 
to feed upon vegetable matter, and therefore his specimens, being, in all probability, 
not supplied with a due allowance of their natural diet — the Root-lice — perished o f 
starvation. Such accidents often happen to the most experienced breeders of larvae ; 
and, moreover, almost all Cannibal larvae are much harder to breed than plant-feeding 
larvae. 
In quoting what I believe to be a mistake made by Mr. Riley in regard to the above 
larva, I intend no disrespect whatever to that industrious and intelligent entomologist. 
There is not an entomologist, living or dead, in any country of the known world, who 
has not, at one time or another, made such mistakes ; and I am not ashamed to confess, 
that I have repeatedly myself blundered in the same manner. For example, I once took 
the dead and dried-up larva of a small Gall-gnat ( Cecidomyia ) for the larva of a Gall- 
Fly ( Cynips ;) but, as soon as I discovered my error, I embraced the earliest opportunity 
of acknowledging it in print. And here lies the difference between the men that write 
for victory and the men that write for truth. The latter frankly confess their errors 
as soon as they become aware of them ; the former claim to be infallible, and never will 
allow that they have been in the wrong. I could name an entomologist of deservedly 
high standing in America, who has published, within the last twenty-five years, 
several volumes about insects, and has therefore, of course, made several mistakes in 
the course of his scientific career, which have been from time to time corrected by other 
entomologists in print. Yet, from one end to the other of his works, no man can 
point out a single passage, where he has ever acknowledged himself to have been in the 
wrong. Like the horse-jockey in the old story, having once said that the horse was 16 
feet , not 16 hands high, he will never go back on his word. 
As to remedies against this insidious little pest, I believe that the cheapest and best 
one will be to drench the roots of infested trees with boiling water. Mr. C. T. Farrell, 
of Cobden, informed me that he had tried this prescription — which was originally 
recommended by Mr. Riley — and that he had found it effectual. Ashes, which have 
been advised to be used by Dr. Fitch, he found of no use ; but a strong wash of soap 
and water proved to be generally, though not always, effectual. Other gentlemen had 
found the free application of unleached ashes injurious to their trees. There need be 
no apprehension that hot water, when applied to the roots, will kill or injure the tree ; 
for it has been extensively used without any ill effects to kill the borer in peach-trees, 
and to kill the maggots in young growing onions. Indeed, it is a very general law that 
vegetable organisms will, for a short time, stand a much higher temperature than 
animal organisms, without any injury to their tissues; and, in certain cases, boiling 
water seems actually to stimulate the vitality of seeds, instead of impairing it. For 
it is well known that neither Locust seeds ( Robinia ) nor Honey-locust seeds ( Gleditschia ) 
will grow the first year, unless they are scalded, and that, if they are scalded, they 
germinate as freely as Maize. As regards Honey-locust seeds, I am assured of the 
truth of this fact by Mr. Whitney, of Lee Co., in North Illinois. 
Before young apple-trees, especially those raised in the Southern part of the State, 
are planted, the roots should aHvays be soaked a considerable time, either in a strong 
solution of soap, or in strong tobacco-water—‘the latter would probably be the more 
effectual of the two. Thus, if the insect is not already in the vicinity, it may be pre¬ 
vented, perhaps, for a long series of years, from getting there ; for whatever root-lice 
may exist on the roots of the young trees, will, by this means, be effectually destroyed 
before these young trees go into the ground. 
