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VI. Some of the birds of the Vultur-kind are extremely ufeful to men, by deflroying immenfe quantities of car¬ 
rion, which ferve to vitiate the air, and perhaps in fome inftances to give rife to malignant epidemics. The Vultiir 
Aura, or Turkey-Buzzard of our country, is one of the moil ufeful of thefe bird^. In Virginia it is protected 
by a law of that date. The Abbe Clavigero fpeaks of the ufefulnefs of the Cozcaqiiauhtli, or King of the Zopi- 
lots, the Vultur Papa of Linnasus. ‘‘ The Zopilot, fays this writer, is a mod ufeful bird -to that country (Mexico}) 
for they not only clear the fields, but attend the crocodiles and dedroy the eggs "which the females of thofe dread¬ 
ful amphibious animals leave in the fand to be hatched by the heat of the fun. The dedrufldon of fuch a bird 
ought to be prohibited under fevere penalties.^’* 
"''ofiij 
Hi 
I am fenfible, that thefe few faffs, which are thrown together without any regard to order, can be of little ufe except 
in as far as they may turn the attention of other perfons, who poflefs more leifure and information than myfelf, to the 
fubjefl, which is at once curious and important. It appears to to me be a fubjeff peculiarly intereding to my coun¬ 
trymen. Perhaps, few parts of the world are more infeded with noxious infeffs than the United-States. The 
greater number of thefe infefls are, I believe, natives of the Country, though our partiality to the foil which 
gave us birth has not always allowed us to acknowledge this truth. Thus we give to the Medians the honour of in¬ 
troducing among us that mod pernicious infeff, the Hedian-Fly, which, for feveral years, has committed, and 
dill commits, fuch alarming ravages on fome of our mod valuable grains, particularly the Wheat and the Rye. 
But this infefb is, undoub tedly, a native of America. How it came to be, for fo long a time, overlooked, will . " 
probably be mentioned in a memoir, concerning this and other noxious infefls, which I hope to publidi. 
Many of the pernicious infeffs of the United-States feem to be increadng, indead of diminifhing. Some of thefe 
infefts which originally confined their ravages to the native or wild vegetables, have fince begun their depredations 
upon the foreign vegetables, which are often more agreeable to their palates. Thus the Bruchus Pifi, or Pea-Fly, 
is a native, and feems originally to have fed, in a great meafure unnoticed, upon the indigenous vegetables which 
are allied to the Pea : but fince the introduffion of this ladf among us, it is the principal, if not the only, vege¬ 
table which fuders from the ravages of this infeed. The Hedian-Fly could not originally have inhabited the 
Wheat, the Rye, and other fimilar gramina of this kind, for thefe vegetables are not natives of America. It is 
now more formidable to us than would be an army of twenty thoufand Medians, or of any other twenty thoufand 
hirelings, fupplied with all the implements of war. The caterpillar, which has begun its ravages upon the leaves 
of the Lombardy Poplar,J that contributes fo much to beautify our city, is mod probably a native of our ^ 2 ^ 
woods. It prefers this fine foreigner to the lefs palatable leaves upon which it'lias”been formerly accudomed • 
to feed. Other indances of this kind might be mentioned. They diow how very necedary it is to watch the 
migrations of infeQis from the native to the introduced vegetables; and they teach us a truth, not I think fuffi- 
ciently attended to by naturalids, that different kinds of infeds are much lefs confined to vegetables of the fame 
fpecies, or to fpecies of the fame genus, than has been commonly imagined. It is certain, that the fame fpecies 
of imeffs, in America, often feeds indiferiminateiy, and in fucceflion, upon plants of very oppofite genera, and 
even of very different natural orders. 
Hitherto, too little progrefs has been made among us in the difeovery of remedies for the great mifehiefs occafioned 
by infers. The fubje£l has not been examined with fufficient attention. It has given place to difeuffions and 
inquiries of very inferior utility ; and I fear it will not claim all that induflrious attention which it fo well merits, 
until the evil fhall have fpread Hill farther. It is, doubtlefs, difficult, but it is by no means impoffible, to prevent 
the ravages of noxious infeds. In this important bufinefs, fomething has already been done in our countrv. 
We have difeovered a method of diminifhing the depredations of the little bug, called Cucumber-Fly, which 
proves fo deftruflive to the cucurbitaceous vines, particularly thofe of the Cucumber, and Mufk-melon.§ By 
manuring our wheat-lands, and thereby incrcafing the flrength and vigour of the wheat, we have leffened the 
evil of the Fleffian-Fiy. By fufpending to our young apple and other trees pieces of tow, impregnated with a 
mixture of brimflone and train-oil, we have learned how to frighten away the periodical Locufis (Cicada feptem- 
* The Hiftory of Mexico. VoL. I. P. 48. f Pifum fativum. | Populus dllatata of Alton. § See the Tables. Page 4. 
ajii' 
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