a LI B RAR.Y OF THE UNIVERSITY or ILLINOIS 510.6 IL flWVWRL NATURAL Hisiony suRm a o 'r* O H © M e P ^ H •— ^ ^. c & •yj ■fc' — M) ^ •^ Z f? *^ « 1-1 o HH ca 3 0^*?' VOLUME I. SERIES I. TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Edited by C . D . W I L B E R , Secretary, And Instructor in Natural History and Geology, in the State Normal University, at Bloomington. SECOND EDITION. SPRINGFIELD: BAItHACHE & BAKER, PRINTERS. 1861. I UIBRARY OF J ■^' Illinois State NORMAL, ILLINOIS. K R K A. a" A . The attention of the reader is called to the following ; Pasre 10, fourth line fmin the bottom, read " form" for "power;" page 2(>, middle of the page, " form " fur " pow>-v" aea'n ; age 21. fourteen lines from the bottom, read " flame" for "flameg," pTjrg 22^ ten lines fi'om the bo:tnm, supply " of" before " malter;" page '24, eighteen lines rom the t p. r'';td " three " r'cum ;" page 140 " Papavar " for "Paparu;" 141, " Uva-ursi " f ir " Tva urse; page 142, "A.-cIepias" for " Asclipias," page 142, "Anfolium" fnv " Aurifolinm ;" page 142, " Alata " for " Ulata ;" page 142 " Punula " for "Pumilia:" I'age 182, " Gijarti-nrr " for " Gigantum :" page 14-3, ' C'hor " for Chorr " Mr. Walsh's article on " Insects Injurious to Vegetation," is reprinted from the IV volume of the Illinois State Agricultural Society Transactions. P K E F A C E . The first volume of the Society's Transactions is now offered to the public. It has been the aim of the Editor, to present only- such articles and papers as are immediately useful and interesting to the citizens and schools of Illinois, with a hope that a zeal for the pursuits and studies of Natural History may spring up among our people, like the seeds of the sower, in the parable, falling upon good soil, and yielding, "some sixty and some an hundred fold." In order to render the greatest good to all, the subjects have gene- rally been treated in a popular rather than a technical style. It has been said, that he who places a valuable truth or fact within the reach of the million, is doing more for humanity than he who disco- vers it. And, indeed, if scientific men, or libraries and museums, cannot contribute to the elevation of the masses who are less privi- leged, their usefulness is questionable. Humboldt, Liebig, Lyell, Davy, Silliman and Agassiz, do not rank less, because they have reduced their observations to the comprehension of ordinary men. Those who teacli, in any department, must learn the alphabet com- mon to all, and then all can be educated, whether in Literature, Science or Religion. It is, therefore, unnecessary to apologize for the popular style of the present offering. It should be said, how- ever, in behalf of the authors of the several ]3apers, that they were written in the intervals of their professions or occupations, leaving but little time for study and research. In this country we have but few professional Naturalists ; and in this State, only one de- partment of Natural History has ever received public patronage, viz : Geology. The forth-coming Report of the State Geologist will not only encourage these pursuits at home, but will show that the basement of Illinois is worthy of the wonderful garden that rests upon it. S!i&tuia Within the last few years, the advancement of science has been unparalleled. Expeditions to every part of the globe, under gov- ernment patronage, by societies and individuals, besides a host of observers at home, have furnished a vast array of interesting facts. It is an age of discovery — not of new continents — but of new truths and facts. As a consequence, the public taste is lead- ing irresistibly in the direction of Natural History, to the merited neglect of fiction and romance ; and ihe day is near at hand, when a thorough knowledge of the principles and phenomena of Nature will be considered essential to a liberal education. In the Great "West, furnished ages ago, with its millions of ready- made farms, and where Agriculture is the leading employment, these studies must receive particular and constant attention. Here every portion of IsTatural History can be made practical and interest- ing. AGRICULTURE is NATURAL HISTORY APPLIED. Geology, Botan}^ and Zoology are its basis, and in proportion as these are understood, will there be success in farming. It is be- cause these sciences are the basis of Agriculture, that men have theoretically considered it practical ; it is because it has to a great extent ignored these sciences, its true basis, and become a change- less routine, that it has been practically considered base. AVheu the farmer studies the minerals of which his soil is composed, the plants that spring up around him, the insects that destroy — when he learns to study all the objects which abound on every hill-side, valley and prairie — farming will be a science that will daily awaken thought, a pursuit in which mind can develop, and then it will not only be among the moot honorable, but the most honored, of secu- lar professions. Just in proportion as it takes this place, does it rise in dignity, and call men of culture from other pursuits. C. D. W. State Normal Unia'ERSIty, Bloomington, Oct. 30, 1861. CONTENTS PAGE. Secretauy's Report 7 MixD, Force and Matter — An Address — By Prof. J. B. Turner, Jacksonville. ... 17 The Great Tornauo of 1860 — By James Shaw, Esq., Mt. Carroll, Illinoi.-? 37 Geological Section of Rock River, from Sterlixh to Oregon — By Dr. Oliver Everett, Dixon 53 The Mastodon Gigantecs: Its Remains in Illinois — By C. D. Wilber, Blooniington. 59 The Water Lily, {Nelumbium Luteum,) — Its Mode of Growth — By Dr. Frederick Brend< 1, Peoria 65 Taxidermy — By Richard II. Holder, Blooniington 67 Birds of Illinois — Catalogue — By Richard H. Holder, Bloomington 77 Natural History' in Schools — By A. M. Gow, Dixon 87 Object Lessons — By J. II. Blodgett, Ainboy 99 Insects of Illinois, with Catalogue of Colkoptera — By C. Thomas, Murphysboro.lOS Mammals of Illinois — Catalogue — By Cyrus Thomas 123 Plan fur a Natural History Survey — By Cyrus Thomas 135 Additions to the Flora of Illinois — By Dr. Geo. Vasey, Ringwood, Illinois 139 Museum of the Illinois State Natural History Society. — By C. D. Wilbpr 145 Insects Injurious to Vegetation in Illinois — By Benjamin D. Walsh, Esq., Rock Island, Illinois 149 - / ^ ^/ r 5 UIBRARY OF Illinois State kl)or(iiui'> ui i>tiuiiu k NORMAL, ILLINOIS. i ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. SECRETARY'S REPORT. This Society was organized June 30tli, a. d. 1858, and existed simply as an organization until February 22d, a. d. 1861, when it received its charter from the Legislature. The plan for a Society devoted to the advancement of Science in this State, was discussed at an annual meeting of the Illinois Teachers' Association, held at Decatur, in December, a. d. 1857, on which occasion a meeting was called, to be held at the State Normal University in Bloomington, on the day preceding the an- nual examination. Said meeting — the proceedings of which are published in a preceding volume of the State Agricultural Trans- actions — resulted in the organization of this Society. The demand for this movement seemed to proceed from a want of accurate knowledge in nearly all departments of Natural His- tory in the State; and also, from a desire that all facts and discov- eries in a field so vast as Illinois, should be made immediately subservient to the great ends of popular education. The first year of our operations was occupied in securing the co- operation of naturalists who live in various parts of the State. The plans and objects of the Society were heartily endorsed by them, and each began the work peculiar to his own department, at home. This plan has been pursued until the present time, and many portions of the State have been thoroughly explored. The results of these surveys and explorations have been placed in the hands of the curator, and during the last ye.ar have been arranged in the Museum of the Society, in the Normal University at Bloomington. These results demonstrate very plainly the wisdom of the move- ment. Our State is rich in nearly all departments of Natural History, and many new discoveries have been made since our sur- veys were begun. This is especially true in Botany, Entomology and Geology. Papers descriptive of new species will be published in the the next volume of the Society's Transactions. It is justly a source of pride, that among our own citizens there are persons competent to carry on this work and give it a perma- nent character. These individuals have labored with a zeal pecu- liar to the devotees of science ; and it is owing to their energy and self-sacrilice that so much has been accomplished within the past two years. It is also a source of pride as well as encouragement, that in the annals of similar societies, we do not find an instance of such rapid progress — the example for which, however, had been previously set by the State for which the Society exists. It is unnecessary to say that many obstacles have been met and overcome, and that many still remain. "With what labor or toil the Society has come to its present prosperity, let us not now de- clare. In nature the forces and energies that control matter, are silent and latent; and it is wise to imitate nature, in this as in other respects. As in the days past, the people still ask "cwz honof which must be answered ; and still seek for a sign, which must be given. It requires considerable time to undergo public examination and to meet its approval and co-operation ; and it is most gratifying to know that they not only see and approve, but are willing to co- operate for the complete success of our plans and purposes. The following papers were prepared — most of them — for the last meeting of the Society, and have since been revised for publica- tion in this report. They consist of: I. Mind, Force and Mattj:r — An Address — By Frcs. J. B. Turner, Jacksonville. If. The Great Tornado of 1860 — By James Shaw, Esq., Mt. Carroll, Illinois. III. Geological Section of Rock River, from Sterling to Oregon — By Dr. Oli- ver Everett, Dixon. 9 IV. The Mastodon Giganteds — Its Remains in Illinois — By C. D. Wilber, Bloom- ington. V. The Water Lily, (Nelumbium Luteuin,) — Its Mode of Growth — By Dr. F. Brendcl, Peoria. YI. Taxidermy — By Richard H. Holder, Blooniington. VII. Birds of Illinois — Catalogue — By Richard H. Holder, Bloomington. VIII. Natural History in Schools — By A. M. Gow, Dixon. IX. Object Lessons — By J. H. Blodgett, Amboy. X. Insects op Illinois, with Catalogue of Coleoptera — By Cyrus Thomas, Murphyeboro. XL Mammals of Illinois — Catalogue — By Cyrus Thomas. XII. Plan fob a Natural History Survey — By Cyrus Thomas. XIII Additions to the Flora of Illinois — By Dr. Geo. Vasey, Ringwood, Illinois. XIV. Museum of the Illinois State Natural History Society. — By C. D. Wilber. "■ A copy of the charter and constitution of the Society, and the resohitions and reports of committees, together with a list of offi- cers, are also added. C. D. WILBEE, Seo'etary. Bloomington, March 4, 1861. —2 OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY The following- are tlie Board of Officers of the Society for the ensuing year : PRESIDENT. J. B. TURNER, Jacksonville. VICE-PRESIDENTS. Dr. OLIVER EVERETT, Dixon ; Dr. FREDERICK BRENDEL, Peoria ; Dr. SAMUEL ADAMS, Jacksonville ; Hon. A. S. MILLER, Rockford ; Dr. EDMUND ANDREWS, Chicago ; D. H. BKUSH, Carbondale ; Hon. NEWTOX BATEMAN, Springfield ; J. F. JACQUES, Quincy ; Hon. M. L. DUNLAP, Champaign. SECRETARY. C. D. WILDER, Bloomington. TREASURER AND CURATOR. R. H. HOLDER, Bloomington. LIBRARIAN. IRA MOORE, Bloomington. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. C. D. BRAGDON, C. T. CHASE, A. M. GOW, Dr. GEO. VASEY, JAMES BOOTH. 11 COMMISSIONS BOTANY. Dr. GEO. VASEY, Ringwood, McHenry M. S. BEBB, Sprinsfield ; county; Dr. F. BRENDEL, Peoria; E. HALL, Athens, Meuard county ; Dr. S. B. MEAD, Augusta. GEOLOGY AXI) MINKRALOGY. C. D. WILBER, Blooniington ; Rev. 0. D. W. WHITE, Mt. Carroll J. W. FOSTER, Chicago; Dr. OLIVER EVERETT, Dixon. PALEONTOLOGY. A. H. WORTHEX, Spiingiiold ; Dr. M. DAVIS, Oswego, Kendidi county ; J. P. REYNOLDS, Springfield ; JAMES SHAW, Mt. Carroll. CONCHOLOGY. J. W. POWELL, Whcaton ; M. S. BEBB, Springfield ; Dr. LUCIUS CLARK, Rockford ; Dr. E. R. ROE, Bloomington ; E. HALL, Athens. ENTOMOLOGY. B. D. WALSH, Rock Island ; Dr. J. A. SEWALL, Bloomington ; CYRUS THOMAS, Murphyshoro ; H. W. BOYD, Bloomington ; Dr. WM. LeBAROX, Geneva. HERPETOLOGY. ROBT. KENNICOTT, West Northfield ; U. D. EDDY, Bloomington ; J. JOHNSON, Vienna. ICHTHYOLOGY. Dr. ADAM NICHOLS, Quiucy ; Dr. WM. H. GITHEXS, Hamilton ; Dr. L. WATSON, Quincy. MAMMALOGY. WM. P. GEARHARD, Murpliysboro ; CYRUS THOMAS, Murphysboro. ORNITHOLOGY. R. H. HOLDER, Bloemington ; Dr. J. W. VELIE, Rook Island; A. M. GOW, Di.xon. METEOROLOGY. A. HALL, Athens; Rev. W. W. HARSH A, Dixon ; Dr. SAMUEL WILLARD, Bloomington; JAMES SHAW, Mt Carroll. DRAWING AND PAINTING — (Natural History.) J. E. BRYANT, Bloomington. 12 REPORT OF COMMITTEE OX LIBRARY. Dr. Roe, of Bloomington, reported the following: 1. That it shall contain all available works on the Natural Sciences, Home and For- eign Surveys, Manuals, Works of Reference in the several departments, Miscellaneous AVorks, not strictly scientific. Maps and Charts, etc. 2. That the Commissions appointed in the several departments, in the service of this Society, be requested to furnish a list of such books as aie needed in this work. 3. That this library be held exclusively for the use of the members, and that the Commissions and Agents of the Society shall be permitted to borrow the books for a short period of time. 4. It shall be the duty of the Librarian to arrange the books of the Society, to make and keep a catalogue of the same, to keep a record of the books drawn from the library as directed by the Society, and report to tlie Society at its annual meeting. 5. That the Society devote all moneys obtained by donations and memberships to this important object, except so much as are necessary for expenses. AUXILIARY SOCIETIES. The following is the Report of the Committee on Auxiliary So- cieties : Resolved, That we encourage the formation of Auxiliary Natural History Societies in the counties, schools, colleges and towns of this State, whose olijecl it shall be to de- velop the Natural History of their localities, and to awaken an interest in the study of Natural Science. Resolved, That for the purpose of creating and extending the taste for the subject of Natural History, of stimulating those interested in the collection of specimens in tlie various departments, and of further promoting a system of exchanges, the Hlinois Nat- ural History Society offers to Auxiliary Societies the following premiums : 1. For the largest and best collection of fossUs, illustrating the Geology of any sec- tion, an exchange of fo ssils illustrating the Geology of the State, containing at least double the number of species presented by the competitors. 2. Botany. — For the largest and best Botanical collection, illustrating the Flora of any section, an exchange illustrating at least the genera of the State. 3. Mineralogy. 4. C'onchology. 0. Enloniology. At least double the number of varieties. 6. Herpetoloiiy. f Like premiums to be offered. 7. Ichthyology. , I 8. Oriiithology. J Resolved, That the competitors for the above premiums shall have their collections on h'.ind at the next meeting, and piesent them as tlie property of the Society, and that the Society shall appoint a committee or conmiittees to make the awards above men- tioned, and that the premiums be prepared and sent to the Auxiliary Society to which tiiey may be awarded at the earliest opportunity, the Committee being judge in any case whether the collection is worthy of the premium offered. 13 Resolved, Tliat tlic officers of Auxiliary Societies be Honorary Members of this So- ciety, wlio may co-operate with the Society and be entitled to all the privileges of mem- bership, except the right of voting. JAMES SHAW, ) B. D. WALSH, - CommiUee. A. M. GOW. ) RESOLUTIONS. The Committee on Resolutions, by C. D. Bragdon, Cliairmari, reported the following resolutions : Whereas the dignity and position of tiiis organization, as well as the utility of its work, depends largely, perhaps primarily, upon the collection and record of facta, as well as specimens, illustrating the same ; therefore, Ursolved, That we reconmiond that working niembei'S, commissioners, and otlicrs co- operating, keep a detailed diary of their observations in their respective departments, and report a condensed summary of the same to the Society, to be placed on file and published in its reports. Jiesolved, That it is expedient that we hereafter refuse to hear or accept verbal reports from the different commissions or officers of this Society. 1. Resolved, That the Natural History of the country is of sufficient importance to all interests to warrant every effort on the part of educationists, everywhere, to promote its more general study, and the diffusion of a knowledge of it. 2. Resolved, That as auxiliary to this work, we recommend the organization of Nat- ural History Societies, and the collection of cabinets, in counties, towns, and public and private schools, to co-operate with this Society ; and we hereby pledge to such our co-operation and assistance. '.i. Resolved, That we recommend, in the education of teachers, a careful attention to their qualification to teach, practicallv, the Natural Sciences in all our schools. 4. Resolved, That we hail with gratification, and commend every effort on the jiart of authors and publishers to simplify Natural Science, and adapt text books to the needs and capacity of pupils in our common schools. 0. Resolved, That the work of the Hlinois Natural History Society is so far identical with the industrial interests of the State as to render it not only politic but imperative that the Executive Committee of this Society adopt measures to secure their further co-operation. 6. Resolved, That a scientific survey of the State, in all the departments of Natural Historv, for the purpose of securing a more general knowledge of its agricultural and mineral resources, is a matter of vital importance to the people of Hlinois, and worthy legislative action in furnishing means to do it economically and successfully. 7. Resolved, That this Society is largely indebted to the railroads of the State, for facilities afforded its working members in the prosecution of their work, and for this recognizance of the practical utility of the work of the Society on the part of these corporations. 8. Resolved, That we hereby express our appreciation of the services, and indorse- ment of the action of Superintendent Wilbcr, and the workivff memhrs, in their efforts to promote the interests of this Society, and the diifusion of the knowledge of Natural History among the people of the Slate. 14 CONSTITUTION. The following is the Constitution of the Illinois Natural History Society, as amended and adopted at the late session : Art. I. This Society shall be called the Natural History Society of Illinois. Art. II. Its field of observation and research shall comprise Geology, Meteorology, Botany, Zoology, Comparative Anatomy, and Vegetable and Animal Physiology. Art. III. The officers of this Society shall consist of a President, nine Vice-Presi- dents, Treasurer, Secretary, Librarian, Curator, and Executive Committee, to be elect- ed annual!}'. Art. IV. It shall be the duty of the President to preside at all regular meetings. In his absence one of the Vice-Presidents shall preside. Art. V. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys of the Society, such as fees of membership, donations, &c., and disburse the same as directed, upon the written order of the Executive ('ommittee. Art. VI. The Secretary shall keep a record of all proceedings of the Society ; shall file all papers read before the Society ; shall visit different portions of this and other States ; make collections of specimens; attend to exchanges with various Societies ; es- tablish a system of co-operation, and labor to incite a general interest in the study of Natural History. Art. VII. All specimens shall be labeled, registered and deposited in the Museum of the State Normal University. Art. VIII. Any resident of the State of Illinois may become a member of this So- ciety on the payment of five dollars, if elected by a majority of the members present at any regular meeting, provided, the names of candidates for membership shall, in all cases, be presented on the recommendation of two members of the Society. Art. IX. Each regular member sliall pay an annual assessment of one dollar, after the first year of his membership. Art. X. The Executive Committee shall consist of five members, to be selected by the Society. This Committee shall take charge of and act upon all matters referred to them by the Society. Art. XI. The Curator shall receive and take charge of all collections and contri- butions of si)ecimcns, and arrange them in such place as shall be provided by the So- ciety. Art. XII. All regular meetings of this Society shall be held in the city cf Bloom- ington, on the day preceding the Annual Examination at the Normal University. Art. XIII. This Constitution may be amended or changed by a two-thirds vote of the members present at any annual meeting of the Society. 15 CHARTER. AN ACT TO IN'COKPORATE THE ILLINOIS NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Sr;cTiON 1. He it enacted by tlie People of the Slate of Illinois, represented in the Gene- ral Assembly, That Cyrus Thomas of Jackson county, Benjamin D. Walsh of Rock Ishmd, J. B. Turner of Morgan, Samuel Adams of Morgan, J. W. Powell of DuPage, John P. Reynolds of Sangamon, James Shaw of Carroll, Frederick BrenJel of Peoria, Robert Kennicott of Cook, Edmund Andrews of Cook, George Vasey of McIIenry, Oliver Everett of Lee, A. M. Gow of Lee, Richard H. Holder of McLean and C. D. Wilber of McLean, and their associates and successors forever, are hereby created a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of the Illinois Natural History Society, and l}y that name shall have perpetual succession and shall have power to contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded, within all courts of competent jurisdiction; to receive, acquire and hold real and personal prop- erty and cifeets suitable to the carrying out of the objects of said society; to have a common seal and alter tlie same at their pleasure; to make and adopt such constitution, regulations and by-laws as they may deem requisite and proper for the government of said society, not contrary to the constitution and laws of this State or of the United States, and to alter and amend the same at pleasure; and to have and exercise all pow- ers and privileges usual and incident to the trustees of corporations. Sec. 2. The object and purpose of said society shall be to conduct and complete a scientific survey of the State of Illinois in all the departments of natural history, and to establish a museum of natural history at the State Normal University, comprising every species of plants, insects, quadrupeds, birds, fishes, shells, minerals and fossils, within our State limits, as far as can be obtained, comprising also such other collections of natural history, from various parts of the world, as may be deemed necessary by said society. Sec. 3. Said natural history society shall also provide for a library of scientific works, reports of home and foreign surveys, manuals, maps, charts, etc., etc., such as may be useful in determining the fauna and flora of Illinois, and said library shall be kept in the museum of said society at the State Normal University. Sec. 4. The museum of said natural history society shall be for the use of the members thereof, and for the citizens and schools of Illinois, and shall be accessible to the students of the State Normal University, under such regulations as may be adopted by the trustees of this society, and the board of instruction of said university. Sec. 5. A full and complete set of specimens in every department of natural his- tory, donated to the society or obtained by exchange, purchase or otherwise, shall for- ever be and remain in the museum of said society. Sec. 6. At all stated and other meetings called by the president and five trustees, five trustees shall constitute a quorum : Provided, all shall have been notified. The persons named in the first section of this act shall constitute the first board of trustees; and said board shall be divided into three classes of five members, and shall hold their offices for one, two and three years respectivelj'. All vacancies occurring in the board of trustees shall be filled at the regular annual meeting of the members of said society by an election, which shall be by ballot, and shall reciuirc a majority of the members present. Sec. 7. The constitution and by-laws of said society now in operation, so far as they are not inconsistent with this act, shall govern the corporation liereby created, 16 until regularly altered or repealed by the society, and the present officers of said society sliall be the officers of the corporation hereby created until their respective terms of office shall regularly expire or be vacated. Sec. 8. The property of said corporation, both real and personal, shall forever be and remain free from taxation. Sec. 9. Tills act is hereby declared a public act, and shall be in force on and after its passage. SHELBY M. CULLOM, S2)eaker of the House of Representatives. FRANCIS A. HOFFMAN, Speaker of the Senate. Approved February 22, 1861: RICHARD YATES, Governor. POWER, FORCE AND MATTER THEIR DIVERSITY, UXITY, SIMPLICITY AND HARMONY, THE BASIS OF ALL SCIENCE AND ALL KNOWLEDGE. A Discourse delivered at the Anniversary of the TUinois Natural History Society, at Bloomington, June, 1860: By J. B. Turner, President of the Society. It is well on all subjects, sometimes to recur to fundamental principles and consider to what final results these would carry us, if unsparingly applied to all objects of research or of thought. — Especially is this appropriate in our investigations of the Laws of Nature ; for, by this method alone, can we know whether our assumed principles are true or false, and what we are to expect in their future application to phenomena still unknown, or but im- perfectly apprehended and classified under these general axioms or truths The most rigorous application of our assumed axioms to un- known as well as known phenomena, although in one aspect it may be simply theorizing, inasmuch as it may indicate a probable theory of these phenomena, in another aspect it is only a proper test- ing of the truth or falsehood of these axioms themselves. In either view, however inappropriate it may seem to the mere pedantic smatterer in science, it cannot be uninteresting to the true philoso- pher. I have thought, therefore, that it would neither be improper nor unacceptable, on the present occasion, to call the attention of this association to the probable tlltimate and utter simplicity of NATURE, OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE OF GoD, as a neccssarv logical consecpience of the fundamental axioms of the Baconian Philoso- phy- None can be more fully aware of the difficulty of presenting such a subject, than the members of this association ; and none can lament my incompetency to the task more deeply than myself; but with that indulgence which confessed ignorance may always claim from the truly wise, I will endeavor to present an outline 18 both of my thoughts and of my doubts in a somewhat intelligible form; with less regard to the technical terms and theories of ex- tant science, or the demands of either precision of thought or ele- o-auce of style, than to the present necessities of a miscellaneous audience. What then is the ultimate axiom of the Baconian or Modern Philosophy? It is the assumption of the absolute simplicity of the law of causation — or the doctrine that all effects are produced by simple and not by a complex causation. This doctrine is based on the observation of the entire simplicity of causation, so far as our knowledge has as yet extended, or the extreme unity and simplicity of those causes which, at all points, are found to underlie and produce the boundless phenomenal vari- ety of the Creator's works. And i]ie philosr/phic rule, derived from this, is, never to assume but one cause where that is adequate to the result. Is this fundamental doctrine and its resultant rule, correct? and, if so, SHALL we, DAEE we, apply it to all known being and phe- nomena? But, if not so applicable, it is not, of com*se, correct, and should be at once abandoned, as untenable; or, at least, should be so far limited and explained, as to indicate, truly, precisely how much we do mean, and what we do not mean, by it. And even if this discourse should have no other use it may provoke thought and incite a more careful scrutiny on this point. It is self-evident that we know but three generic forms of exis- tence or of being in the Universe of God. To designate these by the old and more common terminology, we should call the first or or lowest in the order, matter ; the second, the imponderable AGENTS, such as light, heat, electricity, etc.; and third, the tolun- TAKY AGENTS, such as men, animals, beasts, birds, etc. The per- ceived peculiarity of the first, or of MATTER, is, FOEM and its attendants; that of the second, is simple FORCE, capacity of producing motion, or tendency toward motion, and its attendants; that of the third class, is POWER of thought and of will, in higher or lower degrees; or, POWER of will and its attendants and results ; or, perhaps, better, simple self-moving powder. By a shorter terminology, then, I will name these three generic forms of all known being: MATTER, producing form, and its attendants; FORCE, producing motion, and its attendants; and POWER, producing thought and will, and their attendants and results. I might then, perhaps, here say,that simple MATTER, FORCE and MIND, include all known things ; except that it would be straining the usual signification of mind, to make it embrace all those lower orders of being, which seem to have some power of thought or of will; and it is not clear, to say the least, that any form of voluntary being, belongs to, or results from, mere matter and FORCE ; though it may be so. For, though this voluntary princi- 19 pie, or POWER, of will or of thought, seems to exist in three dis- tinct forms: — in connexion with reason and conscience, as in the case of moral beings; in connexion with intelligence or thonght, in greater or less degrees, as in the higher orders of animal life; and, in connexion with bare instinct, in still lower orders — we still, know nothing about it, except that it is a mere power, of some sort, manifesting volition or thought and will — just as force is known only as the cause producing motion. But, on the other hand, we can scarce resist the impression, that matter must consist of atoms or elements, though actually known only as the cause of j^orm and its attendants. And thus matter, stripped of its phe- nomenal adjunct of form, presents itself to us as simple atoms; and then we have in the world, only atoms, forces and powers — the one producing, (or, perhaps Letter, merely presenting or re- sulting in,) all form; the next, producing all motion and change of place or form; and the last producing all thought and will — the great Trinity of Universal Science and !Nature — the Urst, the prox- imate cause of all form; the second, the proximate cause of all motion or change; and the third, the proximate cause of all thought and all will; and, in its highest manifestations, the great lirst cause of, or rather power producing, all things — all motion — all change — all matter — all everything. The two first of these, matter and force, belong to the realm of the properly natural, or the realm of natural and necessary causation; the last, or power of will belongs to the realm or sphere of the supernatural, and lies, at least so far as we know or can see, wholly outside of the realm of necessary causation, and within the realm of voluntary self-determining, self- controlling power — existing, as indeed as do, also, matter and force, under an infinite variety of phenomenal aspects; or, rather, work- ing with infinitely diversified degrees and aspects of power; but ever, still as an original, spontaneous and independent fountain or source of power, however small or large; and holding within itself, in its own inherent nature, the cause of its own action; and not, like matter and force, moving only as it is acted upon by some cause from without. But as matter, force, and power or mind, must all alike have an appropriate sphere of action, so also, in each alike, this sphere of action is not the cause of their action. For exam- ple : — as matter must have space, as its sphere of action, or it can- not exhibit its phenomena of form; and as force must have matter to act upon, as its sphere or occasion of action, or it cannot produce its phenomena of motion, or of tendency toward motion — so this powe'i\ this ORIGINAL self-determining and self-controlling pow- er of will, or mind, must have its proper sphere or occasion of ac- tion, or matter to act upon and force to act with, or something to choose and to do, or it cannot exhibit its peculiar phenomenal power. But space is not the cause of power, nor is matter the cause of force, nor are all together the cause of volition or of the action of this POWER of will or mind, but only the instruments or the occasions which render such action possible. 20 Ant^ precisely here, I pause to make my lowest bow to good old Jonathan Edwards and his erudite disciples, and bid them God speed. For it is self-evident that neither matter nor force of any sort, or in any form have any more tendency or even appetency to control mind, or will or power, in the true sense of the terms, than space has to control form, or inert matter to control force. And the only answer to the question "what causes this mind, this pow- er, to act so and so?" which we can give, is simply this: "God made it, not a form, or a force, but a power, in its own nature and sphere capable of such action — just as he made force capable of its own natural action upon matter, and matter capable of assuming form in space." In other words, the natural only, or ma.ttee and FORCE, are governed by laws of causation; but the supernatural, or mind, will, real power, is governed only by the laws of volition or the laws of the supernatural — which are neither laws of form or of force or of causation, in any such sense as is ever implied in the realm of the natural. If now we look over the world of sense, we shall find all its in- finitely varied and wondrous phenomena, at any given Tnoment, to consist simply of matter, in its various forms and its attendant colors — though color probably belongs to the order of force rather than of matter — and whatever cAa/i^^, either of form, or of size, or place, occurs in these atoms of matter — whether from without or from within — whether of growth or of decay — is the result of some FORCE, astronomical, mechanical or chemical, producing or tending toward motion ; and these can no more be changed, without force, producing motion, than there can be power without matter. The question, then, here arises — are these two all-producing, all-em- bracing elements of all being, and all change in the physical world, simple or complex ? — each a unit, in itself, or multiform and varied ? It is not enou*gh to say that the books give us a great many kinds of matter, and a great variety of forces ; for the ques- tion is — how do the books know ? and on what authority do the books contradict the very axioms, on the basis of which they themselves are professedly written ? Is their doctrine of the sim- plicity of nature, and of causes, to be retained or abandoned 1 That is the question ? If it is to be rigorously retained, then we come, at once, to a view of the utter unity and simplicity of nature, that is most sublime and astounding, and still just what he who knows how simple gravity wheels all suns and spheres and atoms should be prepared to expect — and certainly many of our best writers and thinkers admit the possibility, if not the certainty, of this entire simplicity of matter. It is generally conceded, then, that matter consists of atoms, or, as they are sometimes called, elements ; and it is also quite gen- erally supposed that we know of more than one elemental, or ulti- mate, or atomic, form of matter. But do we know this ? or only assume it, without any ground of confidence, and strictly against all our axioms and analogies, derived from other sources ? Some 21 have supposed that at least two ultimate or atomic forms of matter must exist, or else there could be no combination and no change, producing all the varied phenomena of the material world. But supj)Ose that the ultimate atoms of matter are all one and the same — all, if you please, perfectly regular in their shape, like the eggs of the same bird or fowl or insect ; still it is susceptible of mathemat- ical demonstration that the forms into which these ultimate atoms may be piled or congregated, by simply varying the angles of their axis, or their relative distances apart, or both, is absolutely infinite : Thus — take the above mentioned form of matter, which we can most easily conceive of, as an illustration — the egg of a fowl. All can perceive that by varying the angles of their incidence, and their relative distances from each other, the forms in which they may be piled or congregated are absolutely infinite, producing as many forms of piles as there can be forms of matter in the uni- verse of God — however many there may be. I shall soon show how FORCE, or the second great agent in nature, acts upon these atoms of matter, to determine all their relative positions and dis- tances apart, in all their possible aggregations and changes. But one element or phase of this universal force is what we call heat ; and the universal effect of this form of force, as it is exerted on all the atoms of matter, well illustrates, at this point, my idea. You take solid ice, and apply the force of heat, and yuu soon have the yielding fluid, water, from the same identical solid atoms. These same atoms, constituting ice, have now, under the application of this new force — the force of heat — changed both their form and their color, and appear like quite another substance. Apply still more of this new force of heat to this now melted ice, and you have serial vapor, with the dew, the cloud, the fog, and the rain- bow — all still out of your solid ice. Apply more force of heat still, and you have a form of fiery gas out of your inert and slug- gish ice, which whirls armies and navies over continents and oceans — grinds granite mountains to powder, and chews up solid iron bars as a horse chews straw. Apply a little more, still, of this new force of heat to your inert ice, and you have an explosion of burning flames, for which we still lack a descriptive name, and, therefore, call it hot steam — hotter than the flame of gunpowder itself, and so uncontrollable, impetuous, and omnipotent, in its ac- tion and effects, that the whole solid globe itself connot restrain or control it. Now, no one supposes that the atoms or elements of the gas, the steam, the fog, the water, and the ice, are difierent ; for we know that they are not, but that these same atoms assume entirely new forms and relations, under this new disposing force — or force of HEAT. And precisely similar results follow in the case of all other forms of matter, when subjected to the same force — or force of heat. These very familiar examples show how all possible forms of matter may, at least, be constituted from one and the same kind of ultimate atoms, as easily as from two or more kinds. And un- til we give up our axiom, as regards the simplicity of causes, it is strict- 22 ly nnpliilosophical to suppose that there is, in reality, but one ulti- mate atomic form of matter; since to attribute more than one sim- ple cause, where one is adequate to the whole result, is, in science, UNPniLosopiiicAL, if not absurd. But it may be asked — have not chemists demonstrated that there are more elements of matter than one, even in this water itself? I answer no. It is a point that never has been, and, in the nature of things, never can be demon- strated ; for we can never declare any form of matter whatever to be simple, till we resolve all matter into its ultimate atoms. Till then, all we can truly say, in any case, is, that we cannot yet declare it compound — that is, cannot yet analyze it into any simpler form than itself. But not knowino; and absolutely knowing are two very different things; though, unfortunately, some seem still to consider them the same. Again — it may be asked — is not your new force, or force of heat, by which you work these vast changes in the case supposed, ma- terial, or only another form of matter? I answer — I have no more reason to suppose that heat is matter, in any proper sense of the term — that is, that it consists of atoms, like other matter — than I have to consider mind, soul, and thought, as matter. Matter is, properly speaking, only that which consists of atoms, and necessa- rily assumes form. Force is that which, without either known atoms or form, necessarily produces motion or change; and these two have absolutely nothing, in common, so far as we know. And as there is no force in mere inert atoms, to produce either motion or change, so there are no atoms in force which can assume form — no more than thought itself can assume physical form or exert physical force — at least so far as we yet know. True, any one has^ a right to extend the meaning of the term matter^ so as to em- brace what are commonly called the "imj)onderable agents," which I here call simple fokce ; but, if so, he ought at leas^ to be aware that he, by such definition, pushes the term matter wholly out of its usual and well known sense — as truly so as he would the term '"'•cast iron^'' if, by arbitrary definition, he should so extend its mean- ing as to make it embrace human souls and bodies ; for, so far as we know, these imponderable agents — this -universal force, (or these forces, if yon please) — have not even so much in common with mere matter as cast-iron has in common with human beings ; for we know that there is iron in some form in the body — but there is neither form, the essential matter in force — nor motion, the es- sential of force in matter alone — even in the smallest degree, so far as we know. And by what logic or rhetoric things totally dissim- ilar should be put under the same name I cannot conceive. Still further — the question is sometimes asked, whether mind itself is matter. We might just as rationally ask if it is pewter or block tin or cast-iron." It can be neither, except by the most arbitrary definition. Between that power, whatever it is, and whatever we may choose to call it, which produces thought and will^ and that force 23 which produces motion^ and those ato^is or matter which produce forms, there is absohitely not even the slightest reseinbLmce, either in their essence, their modes of action or their uniform efi'ects — so far, at least, as we know or have any reason to believe. If, therefore, we profess, at all, to class and call different things by different names, we must keep each of these classes, both in name and thought, entirely distinct — at least till we find between them some common idea or element. Otherwise we might just as well call them by arbitrary defini- tion, all together — all as one "granite," or "plumb pudding," or "wild geese," and cease, at once, from all possible reasoning and inquiry about them. For powek, producing thought and will — and FORCE, producing motion — and matter, producing form, are indeed the only three things, known to us in the whole world of things and of thought, that are, at all points — in essence, func- tion and effect — totally distinct and unlike. Why, then, confound or misname or misconceive them ? It might, with far greater plausibility, be assumed that each atom or particle of matter is, in and of itself, invested with a pecu- liar force, which impels it to move and act, under all conditions, as it does ; that is, that this force, producing all motion and all change, is attached inseparably to the atoms which it moves, so as to be- come, in all cases, an inherent instead of an external and indepen- dent force, acting from within instead of from without upon the particles. But if so, the inert atom is still one thing — the thing of mere place and form ; while the inherent force is quite another thing — the thing of all motion, all change, all life and all death, and in thought we must separate them, even if inmparahle in fact. Bat if I have not said enough to show the probability, if not the certainty, of the absolute simplicity of matter, it is still best to con- sider, at this point, the simplicit}'^ of force, or of that which pro- duces all motion and all change. For it is self-evident that there can be no change without motion, and no motion without force or a cause producing it ; and as we have, in accordance with general usage, called the cause producing form, matter, so now, in obedi- ence to the same usage, we call the cause producing motion or change, force. Is force, then, in the created universe, simple or complex ? " How absurd the question ! " says one. " Does not common sense teach us all that force is infinitely complex and various ? Do we not all see, with our own eyes, chemical forces, mechanical forces, and astronomical ; the force of gravity, electricity, magnet- ism — of attraction and repulsion ; the force of wind, water, steam, and muscle, in all their thousand varied forms ? How absurd, then, to speak of force as a simple unit, even granting that matter is but one varied aggregate of simple atoms ! " But stop one moment, my friend. Just now, you was equally sure of multitudinous ultimate forms of matter. You had your oxygens and hydrogens — your nitrogens and carbons — your metals 24 and gasses — all neatly boxed up and labeled, in your laboratories and books, as an indefinite number of simple forms of matter. "We have already, I trust, emptied some of tliese empyrical vials — or, at least, written, in fair, legible hand, on their labels, " unknown," though, by every rule acknowledged by either man or God, pre- sumed to be simjple; and, by the same great law of simplicity and unity, this seemingly multiform fokce should be confessed a simple unit — at least, till the contrary is proved. But let us go back, for one moment, and consider again these three phenomena : mind, fokce and matter. Mind, as the origi- nal cause of all things ; and force, as the mere right hand of mind or proximate cause of all change ; and matter, as the element or mere vehicle which, in space, makes all change, all motion, all force, all mind, cognizable to sense. Here is your man with his tea-kettle or boiler, if you please, and his ice. He kindles his fire : for the fire or the heat can no more germinate itself, without some controlling or directing power, than the ice can melt itself. Now, we have got just these things together : the man, or an original, self-moved or self-moving power; the heat, or a force through which this power — this mind and will of man, may act on matter; and the matter, in the form of ice, on which both mind and force, and power and causation may act. Here is power — self moved, self-directing power — in the mind and will of the man, or power of ORIGINAL, spontaneous CAUSATION, or causatiou assignable to no force from without the man himself — an independent fountain (so to speak) of force, which we will call, for the sake of distinctness, POWER — A POWER — to Separate it from all other force as such. Second : we have simple force or proximate causation in the form of heat ; and third : we have the ice^ or a form of matter, on. which this power of mind or will, or of original causation, can act through, and only through some form of force or some form of proximate causation — in this case, the force of heat. ]^ow, mark : This original, spontaneous power — the power of mind — wills to create or apply the force of heat. The heat yields obedience to this original source of power, and necessarily acts upon the ice according to its own laws of proximate causation, and throws it now into the form of water, now into that of vapor, or dew, or rainbow, or explosive gas — according as the first cause, or power, or directing mind, or will, ordains. Now, this is precisely what, and only what takes place in all forms of motion or of change of life, or of decay and death, in all cases whatever in which we know ALL the elements and causes of such motion or change. There is always, first: a power of mind or will of some voluntary being, human or animal — as a power or fountain of causation. Second : some form of force applied or directed by this voluntary agent or power ; and, third : the form of matter upon which this force acts. We notice that in this case the force applied is simple heat, and the result is varied in proportion to the intensity of its application. Now, if the power of man, with his limited faculties, by the applica- 25 tion of the single and simple force of heat, can throw a lump of ice into all these multiform and varied forms, who can doubt the power of God, by the same simple force, under different degrees and aspects, to produce on matter all its varied results ? Again — the Indian or the archer wills to pull his bow-string. This power of will sets in motion a fobce in the muscle of his arm ; that force moves the bow-string, and that again moves the bow, and that the arrow — which cleaves the air and causes the death of a sparrow, or a hero, as the case ma}' be. Here, again, is an origi- nal power — the power of will — setting in motion a series of forces, animal and natural, determining life and death, or, it may be, the fate of armies and empires. But, as in all other possible cases, here is only, ^rst, a self-moving power of some voluntary being — seco7id, FOKCE or forces set in motion or action by such power, and the MATTER on which this original power and its obedient force or forces act. And as we find force the sole cause of motion, or change, or proximate causation, in all cases fully known to us, we find the will of voluntary beings, the sole functions of original causation — the sole self- originating power. And as there is no tendency, so far as we know, in mere matter to produce motion, so there is no more tendency in mere force to act in any way, except in so far as it is acted upon, or moved by some voluntary power or original spontaneous source of causation — under the genera of mind, will, voluntary being, or whatever other name you please to give it; and we have no analogy or well authenticated example whatever of any real or possible change produced without these three con- current causes of all known change — matter yielding to force, of some sort, and force, directed and controlled or set in motion or action by mind, will, power or voluntary action of a voluntary being of some sort. Hence, it will appear why I termed matter the cause of form, and force the cause of motion or change, and mind, or power, the great first cause of force, of motion, and of all things — the sole and only fountain of original spontaneous power, at least so far as we as yet know. True, we call this universal force by different names, according to the conditions of its action and the things it acts upon ; but in all cases, alike, we know noth- ing whatever of it, except it is a simple force, and have not the least reason to suppose it complex in any case more than in the case of heat supposed ; and it would be just as philosophical, in this case of supposed heat, to speak of one force of thawing or melting and another force of expanding, boiling, evaporating, exploding, etc., according as the ice was made to melt, evaporate or explode, as it now is, to speak of the forces of heat, light, elec- tricity, etc. ; for we know absolutely nothing of any one of these, except simply that it is a force producing certain results, widely difierent, indeed, as in the other case, but no more necessarily from different forces; while our ultimate law or rule of causation should impel us to speak of this all-pervading, (as in the case of matter,) as simple — a simple unit — till we have at least some reason to sup- 26 pose the contmry; especially if in our observations of nature we ever keep finding new facts and hints, which point toward this same simplicity of causation or of force. True, in popular lan- guage, it is well enough to speak of "water-falls" and "wind-falls" and "down-falls" of all sorts, and of force of heat, light, electricity, life, death, gravity, polarity, etc , or of a force of thawing, evapo- rating and exploding, provided we do not philosophically deceive ourselves and others by our terminology ; and constantly remem- ber that, as it is one simple force which produces water-falls, and wind-falls, and rain-falls, and one force that melts and evaporates and explodes. So in all other cases, our real knowledge does not extend one item beyond this single idea of simple force^ producing varied results, in any case whatever ; while many items in our knowledge, as well as the constant developments of science, and, above all, the fundamental rule or law of all science — the great rule of simplicity of causation — should compel us to speak of and regard all force, of whatever sort, as a simple unit — simple force — produ- cing varied results ; which is in fact all we know about it — and we only deceive ourselves when our terminology leads us to think otherwise. But it may be asked — what causes force to move, or MIND or VOLUNTARY AGENTS to wiU — to act ? All WO kuow is, that it is the essential nature of force to move — that is to act as a force, wheneverbrought in contact with matter to be moved or to be acted upon. And it is the essential nature of mind or of voluntary be- ings to will and to act as a self-moving power, wherever there are forces, which this power desires thus to set in motion or action — or matter which it desires to act upon. But as the matter does not cause the force which moves it, and is only the necessary occasion, the instrument of its action, so no more does force cause the action of the mind or will, but is only the occasion or instrument which renders its action possible. In this view of the case matter is the mere plaything of force, and force itself is the mere plaything or instrument of superemi- nent mind or will. Unless, indeed, contrary to the apparent anal- ogy of all cases of which we can have full knowledge, we resolve all jpovier into mere force^ and consider mind itself only as a higher form of such force, and thus, again, violate a law of lexicography, at least, bv including under the same name thino-s which have no perceived analogy — thought^ will — or voluntary power, and invol- untary FORCE. "We see, too, in view of this subject, that "personal identity," as well as all forms of material identity, depends not at all on the sameness of the matter of which any particular body is composed ; for all matter is, according to this view, a unit ; and all forms of mere matter the same ; while all variations in matter depend wholly on the variations of force or of force and spirit combined. Hence, the same spirit and the same forces necessarily assume and take to themselves the same material forms, whenever attached to matter at all, and are, therefore, identical, just as gold is always 27 gold, iron always iron, or any of their alloys, always identical with the same alloy. Hence, Paul's reasoning about the resurrection of the body, in the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians and elsewhere, is, at least, strictly philosophical ; and all objections di-awn from the constant or total dissipation or recombination of the particular particles of matter in the body, at any one time, either at or before the period of death, are unphilosophical and absurd ; or, at the yery best, such objections assume what no man knows, or can know, as the basis of their conclusions. Is, then, FORCE, this proximate cause of all motion, simple or complex — one in kind, acting in various ways, or multiform and complex? Now, motion is simple change of place. It is a simple thing, though endlessly diverse in its directions and changes. Has it a simple cause? The philosophic axiom of the Baconian philos- ophy can not possibly allow it but one, till it is proved that more than one is needed. And as we now know that most of the appa- rent forms of matter are merely phenomenal, so we have every reason to suppose that most of the apparent forms of f jrce are merely phenomenal, also. And if there are any facts, revealed by the progress of science, which would drive us from the rigorous application of our philosophic rule of simple causation in solving the phenomena of all form in matter as the result of simple ele- mental atoms, and of all motion and change as the equal result of simple elemental force, ecpially one and simple in its nature, I know not what those facts are. Why, then, is it not right to apply our rule and assume and assert its truth till we know to the contrary? Or shall we give up our rule ; or hold it as dogmatists do their creeds: as a settled truth, everywhere to be asserted and proclaimed, or at least not contradicted, but nowhere to be either discussed, applied or believed — a bare, dead form of words. Under this view of the subject, how full of life and inspiration is the study of Natnral History, in all its varied departments ? How manifold, and yet how sublimely simple, are all the works of God ! Only three simple things, of which to make a universe of being : angels, men, beasts and birds, earth, ocean, air ; all solids, liquids, gasses ; all forms of beauty and deformity — of life and of death — tilling all time and all eternity : mind, force and matter — the great created and uncreated Trinity of the Universe of God — pro- ducing all forms, all shapes, all sights, all sounds, all arts, all life, all death, all being, all motion, all change, all everything. True, we call these three things by various names, as they ap- pear before us in varied forms ; but does the name change the thing ? So we call w^ater ice when it is frozen, and steam when it is heated. In like manner (it may be, at least,) that we call this all-moving force, as it glances through space, from the bosom of the sun, pure light. As it strikes through our atmosphere, or im- pinges upon the solid matters of our globe, we call it heat. As it performs its mysterious and unknown circuits and offices around 28 and within the earth, (possibly causing both its annual and diurnal motion,) we call it gravity^ polarity , the centripetal and centrifugal force — cohesion, attraction and repulsion, etc., etc. As it shoots, in fiery masses, from point to point, or from cloud to cloud, or trembles along wires, under oceans or over continents, obedient to the power of mind, (even in man,) we call it electricity. As it runs along the nerves or coils round the brain of men or animals, we call it galvanism, nervous fluid, etc., etc. As it slowly builds or shoots up the myriad forms of crystal, vegetable and animal life in earth, air. and sky, and in the vast and capacious sea, we call it chemical affinity, animal and vegetable growth, life, etc. etc. As it finally drops all things into the charnel house of death, we call it decomposition — decay. And, summarily, we speak of all its acts, in these regards, as composition and ^^composition. As it whirls along in the bosom of a storm, sweeping all things — the air, buildings, fences, trees and animals — in the same giddy whirl along with it, we call it a whirlwind ; though we might as well call it a whirl-tree, or a whirl-house, or whirl-barn, or whirl-fence ; for it often makes trees, houses, barns and fences whirl as lively as it does the air. While on the ocean, we call a similar phenomena a water-spout, and might as well call this a ship-spout, or whale- spout, too, for it takes up a ship or a whale just as easily as it does the water. Finally, when all its earthly offices and duties are done, it seeks to whirl away toward the poles of the earth, and, like the'Phcenix, rising from its own ashes, to gleam and corrus- cate in the Polar sky on its return back to the bosom of the sun, from which it came; and then we call it the "aurora borealis" — "the morning of the north." But it is questionable whether this might not better be called the "evening of the north," for it would seem more natural to suppose that here, at last, the earthly day's work of this mighty, all-momng force is brought to its close. Phenomenally, perhaps, all our varied names are well enough ; just as we speak of a water-fall, a stone-fall or a tree-fall — though it is simple gravity, as we admit, that makes them all fall. And what is gravity, or electricity, or attraction, or any other form of force ? Why, it is simple force, performing certain things or changes upon matter ; and that is. in reality, all we know about it. SimjDle, mighty, mysterious, all-creating, all-moving, all-destroy- ing force — now gilding a scene ; now hatching an egg or sprouting a seed ; now wafting a feather or scattering a sporale ; and now whirling or exploding a planet or a world — existing everywhere and doing all things — filling all space without occupying space — controlling all form, shape, color and motion, without form, shape, color or motion either — so far as we know ; for motion l)elongs only to matter, not to force — the right hand of God, by which He moves and affects all things — if, indeed, it be at last resolvable into anything but the naked will of God itself; and, if so, it surely must be simple and not complex. 29 Perhaps we may never be able to solve this great riddle by act- ual demonstration. But if not, it is still, I contend, more philo- sophical to hold to the simplicity of nature and the simplicity of causation, and assume that both force and matter are units, rather than to assume, against all our axioms and known rules of evidence, that they are complex and varied. For the case stands really thus: We DO KNOW that some one kind of matter, force and power does exist as the several causes of form, motion, and of thought and WILL. But that more than one kind of ultimate matter, force or power does exist we do not know; and it is surely more philoso- phical to ASSUME AND REPORT ONLY WHAT WE DO KNOW than what We do not know. And to draw this line between the actually known and the unknown has been one object of this discourse — that we may see, more clearly, how little we actually do know. And to trace and note all the varied and complex manifestations, methods, relations and phenomena of that essence of matter, which assumes form ; and of force, which produces motion ; and of power, which produces thought and will, makes up the sum total of all human knowledge, both in the natural and material world, under the great law of necessary causation ; and in the supernatural and spiritual world, under the laws of free volition. The one the law of matter and force — the other the law of spirit and POWER. This view gives a unity and simplicity to all our philosophic aims and investigations which no other view could ; and at certain points tends to shield us from errors, and even from the most gross absurdities, into which the mere book-making and book-reading world have often been inclined to fall. The absurd confounding of matter or force, or both, with spirit and power, and the great law of inevitahle causation^ which gov- erns the one, with the law of Jree volition, which governs the other — so common in the most learned writers, especially on meta- physics and theology — could scarcely have occurred, if this view of the simplicity of the Creator's works had been, even as a bare pos- sibility, admitted to the mind ; for it at once dispels all the fog and dust of such confused and absurd notions, and shows us, at a glance, that a man might as well inquire after the gross weight of a thought, in pounds and ounces, as after the necessary cause of a volition — or after the conscience of a cannon ball, as after the mat- ter of a spirit, or even of a force. Consistently with this view, there never has been but three great leading modes of human thought in the world — called, in different ages and languages, by different names, and exhibited under some- what different phases, but each resting, substantially, on the same basis — whether in Germany or Judea —among the millions of China or India — or in the wilds of America. We commonly name these modes of thought materialism, pantheism and spiritualism. The first looks upon the world from the mere material or phe- nomenal side, and assumes the actual supremect of matter ; either 30 ignoring the very existence of supernatural, supereniinent mind, or making it the mere bond-slave or instrument of matter — a "tab- ula rasa," as they say — a "clean sheet," on which omnipotent mat- ter registers its hourly lessons and decrees. The second, or Pantheism, looks at the world from the side of mere force, and, regarding mind as a mere form of force, assumes its universal supremacy. And thus, having made mere force the only God, it, of course, finds God everywhere and. in all things where this force exists and acts. The first can see no force outside of matter, and the last can hardly recognize any matter even apart from force ; while both, alike, ignore the existence of mind in the highest and most proper sense of that term. The spiritualists recognize, in some form, a spiritual powek, such as 1 have described, and sometimes spread it over the appro- priate realms of matter and force ; making spiritual beings the direct and proximate as well as the remote and original cause of many phenomena of force and of matter. Thus each of these modes of thought is based upon some one of the three great facts in the world j and from hence have derived their almost incredible vitality and power over the human mind. And from each, alike, we may, as students of nature, derive some valuable instruction, which, as philosophers, we should gratefully accept, rejecting only the attendant error. To some of the assumptions of our terminology in physics I have already alluded. But let it not be supposed that, even here, things may not be assumed as well as words. Probably, if any one should look over the text books of science, most in vogue with the most learned men, only some forty or fifty years since, he would be utterly amazed at the absurdities and follies which they contain. But do we not still assume that we know thing-s which are not yet quite demonstrated ? I confess I have many doubts about even our present attainments, at some points. In Astronomy, we still talk about having weighed the globes as complacently as a farmer speaks of weighing his pigs. It is often supposed to be mathematically demonstrated, not only that we know their weight, but that they are all solid, and that their grav- ity is most dense at their centers. But our processes of weighing resemble that of the Indian trader, who put his foot in one end of the scale when he sold shot to the natives. In time, they discover- ed that it made a material difterence whose foot was in the scale. So if we assume that the Earth and all the planets are solid spheres, that is one thing. But if they are, in fact, all hollow spheres, and occupied within only as vast depositories of this omnipresent and all- working force, without atoms or matter, in any form, then we have quite another man's foot in the scale ; and our ponderous worlds all turn to mere soap-bubbles, dallied in the hand of that Infinite Power that controls all matter and all force, and in whose sight the created universe itself, with all its stupendous forces and 31 shows, is but a mere bauble — a trinket of a passing day — made for the amusement and development of mind — self-determining and self-directing mind — a thing infinitely above all mere nmtter and all mere force — not only an original power, but the only such pow- er; nay, properly speaking, the only power in the universe of God, Again — it is supposed that the matter of tlie Sun and many other spheres is more luminous, in proportion to its size, than the matter of our Earth. But where is the proof? If our Northern lights are as bright as represented by Dr. Kane and others — and if the matter of our globe should be increased one million four hundred thousand times — (that is, made equal to the Sun,) and the brilliancy of these lights be proportionally increased, who can say that our Earth would not appear as luminous, (that is, as perfectly enveloped in that force we call light,) to the distant spectator, as the Sun now does to us? True, this may not be so. Lut I do not think that this and many other points, apparently assujned in the books, liave ever yet been demonstrated, or are soon likely to be so; and I apprehend that we shall all, at last, find that the mii- forrnity of nature, of both the law of matter and force, as well as their simplicity and unity, is much greater in all the worlds than the books are wont to admit. Who knows that our Earth, just as it now is, would not at once become a sun, simply by increasing its size — that is, simply, by giving a wider field for this force called gravity, electricity, light, Northern lights, etc., to act in, and display itself upon. According to this notion, the Sun is simply, so to speak, a greater galvanic battery than the Earth, requiring, using, giving off, and receiving, more of this force, in its varied forms, only because it is larger and' needs more, and perhaps gen- erates more. In this view of the case, there is no proof that the remotest planet in the solar system is any colder than the Sun it- self; for, like the Sun, each one may make its own fire, or generate its own heat, by a law compensating for its distance from the centre. Again — where is the proof that either light or heat is diffused through all space from the Sun, or any other sphere, by universal radiation from the center, like the light of a candle, instead of flowing off toward, and only toward other orbs, in straight lines, as electricity moves toward the matter alone that attracts it. Can- dles and fires of earth throw their light all around, it may be, be- cause the matter that it seeks, or which attracts it, lies all around. But it is not so with the Sun. And that light and heat or any form of force run needlessly and wastefully through all vacuity, all space, to my mind is an assumption which, with many others of like sort, needs proof. In this view, above suggested, all planets shine in proportion to their size and their own inherent light, and also in proportion to the light attracted to them, or poured in par- allel lines upon them, from all other planets ; and with us, of course, most of all, from the Sun — so that one side of the Moon gives us 32 its own lit^lit, augmented by the influx from the Sun ; and the other side, the same light, augmented only by the stream or influx from the other planets, which is very dim. Now, if the contrary of this suggestion has been proved, surely the proof is not quite as demon- strable as such assumptions in science require ; and for one I would like to see the proof of a multitude of similar points assumed made a little plainer before yielding my unquestioning and undoubting assent. That this force of light, whatever it may be, is attracted toward the denser medium, or matter, we have full proof. How much it is so attracted we cannot say. In Geology, too, we assume that these forces, or this force, exists and acts now in this way, and now in that — at one time the Earth is a bladder, full of water, and anon a bomb-shell, full of fire — one day we trip up Moses' feet, and the next day we set him bolt up- right again, on a new pair of exegetical stilts. In Physiology, we assume that this force, in the production of life, or "vital force," as we call it, acts now on one principle and now on another ; and while we agree that all embryos, seeds, and beings, of whatever sort, have, in time past, been created or pro- duced by tliis force, under the guiding power of God, yet we seem startled if any one suggests that the very same processes, in kind, may be, so far as needed, going on now ; and that God has neither gone to sleep, nor this all-creating force become either idle or inac- tive. Said an eloquent one of old, "Why should it be deemed a thing incredible to you that God should raise the dead." But we seem not to have faith enough to believe that he can make a grain of chess, or clover, orpurslain seed, or a new ant's egg, or fly, when he needs one — because it is against the laws of nature, as we say — that is, against the laws of the identical power and force, that made all things, and still holds them as they are. But by what logic or law of nature do we infer that that power and force which has created all things, may not create still another thing, either the same or different in kind, where it is needed. If xVdam was crea- ted with all the nameless forms of vermin in and about him, which are now known to live only on the human body, he must have had a merry time of it in his new Paradise, and I do not wonder he rebelled. But if not so created, some living creatures must have been produced since the original creation. And if living things, why not seeds and plants? In Meteorology, it is generally assumed that tornadoes are caused by a vacuum, or partial vacuum, in the air. Now every fire and candle produces such a partial vacuum; but who ever saw, even on the smallest scale, such motions of the air produced by these vacuums? Is not the balloon or funnel shape of the tornado, also, exactly wrong end up, to suit the purposes of this theory ? or, if not — are not the movements of the air upwards almost exactly the opposite to what they should be, on any possible theory of a mere vacuum, and air rushing in to fill it. And where is the evi- dence that such a vacuum exists at all ? The usual fall of the baro- meter is, of course, no pV' any lorce, Jittinp: the air and all things else upwards, wouiu L'\ J' ' ' '^ irometerthe same etlect as a vacuiuu. And .1 .... , < / ^ ; ilial vaciuun, is near the earth, why does it not sensibly aficct the men and ani- mals thrown into it? But who ever heard of any such testimony. To the best of my knowledge, want of air is quite the last thing any man in a wliirlwind thinks of complaining about. The Avatcrs])out and whirlwind, or tornado, are usually ascribed to the same cause. But what tendency there can be in a mere vacuum, over the sea, to lift up the water, instead of the yielding air around, and thus cre- ate a water-spout, I confess I cannot see, any better than I can see its tendency to create a whale or a rhinoceros. True, if there is a vacuum there, the water might jump up to fill it, instead of the more yielding air all around ; and so might the whale ; and, indeed, so he would, if he was there. Then, we should have, I suppose, a "whale-spout," or a '•hohhi-ichale^'*'' instead of a water-spout or a ichirlwhid. Beside, what produces this vacuum? or does it pro- duce itself? Some force, of course, must do it. Why, then, not come right to the truth, at once, and state the simple fact, that this mighty, mysterious, all-moving, all-creating, and all-destroying force, which we see at work everywhere, but know nowhere, in ac- cordance with its own innate laws, in one of its modes of action, whirls air, seas, men, trees, temples and ships, all, all alike, aloft, and thus creates a whirlwind, and a "whirl-house," ship, tree, and water, too — a "whirl-everything" that comes within its grasp; for this is simply and strictly all we know, as yet, about it. Is it asked, in any case, where this force comes from? Comes from ! Better, far, ask where it does not come from. Professor Farraday professes to have demonstrated, says the Atlantic Monthly Beview, of July, 18G0, that one single grain of water contains as much of this elemental force, in the form conj- monly called electricity, as can be accumulated in eight hundred thousand Leyden jars, each requiring to charge it thirty turns of the large machine at the lioyal Institution. If this is so, God, the Infinite Creator, is, surely, not likely to become bankrupt in an ever-p.i-esent available force, either on sea or land, to make all things, at any moment, either whirl or stand, live or die, as he pleases. Doubtless, his law of volition and action will continue to be, as it ever has been, somewhat fixed and constant; and thusnuike for us. and for all our intellic;ences and sciences, that uniformity of phenomena which we are pleased (looking amazing wise all the while) to call the "law of nature." But his internal resources of POWER, and his external magazines of fokck, will 'not be likely to become soon exhausted, even should whirlwinds, tornadoes and waterspouts be greatly increased, or a new seed now and then sprout and grow, or even a new animal be created; yea, whole globes, systems, and spheres, of new suns, earths, men, animals, and trees. —4 m^ '( iaf TIh in, there are the new-^;^nnnr*lmll i call tnenif) science^ • IS, Avitclicrat'tH and Iminbijo^s? — phreii- uiu-y, lacsiuerisui, bi'uug}, !5])irituulisiii, etc., etc, AVell; I well reincinber the day Avheii we students of old Yale were cautioned a'^ainst phrenoloo;y, as the great antichrist of the times, and the temptation of the devil. Now the necessary position of the clergy in liunian society, in all ages, makes them so prone to be conserva- tive, that they often have regarded a new thought as a temptation of the devil, (thongh in our times their love of knowledge is brave- ly overcoming this weakness of fear,) and I admit it may be so; though I think that, at least, some of the new thoughts that have come into the world under the connnon fate of being denounced as the children of the devil, have actually sprung from the power of God, wielding according to its flxed laws, that mighty force that moves the world, in all outward manifestations, both of matter and of mind. True, I would regard the old adage, and "give the devil his due;" l)ut to give him everything, that is really worth giving to any body or being, is a little too much. I do not think him worthy of that honor. And as he has not succeeded in running away "with astronomy, geology, electricity and gravity, in olden time, I am opposed to bequeatliing to him any new manifestation whatever, of either powek, foece or matter, mind, motion or atoms. Nor do I assume, that we, as yet, understand the full play and interplay, action and reaction, of mind on mind, or power on power, power on force, and force on matter, throughout the whole universe of God, natural and spiritual, so as to be able to say pre- cisely, and most punctiliously, this old thing, which we do under- stand, is of God, and this new thing, Avhicli we do not as yet un- derstand, is of the devil; for I consider it, at least scientilically, if not theologically, possible that God knows and understands several things which we do not, and are not likely to, even in this most en- lightened and democratic uinetecnth centur}'. At all events, as philosophers, we shall, in this age, as in ages past, learn more b}'' watching and recording facts, than we shall hy berating the devil, ever assured that power, force and matter, working by their own laws, are adequate to all we see and know, without the devil's help, except in his ow^n appropriate work and sphere; and I have never known him to become as yet the father of a new science or the creator of a new fact. To inquire and examine fearlessly and critically, into these and all other phenomena, is one of the ends of this Association. In M'hat weakness and fear it began its being, and amid what toil, and want, and poverty, it has, thus far, continued to struggle, there are some present who well know\ And if its working officers and members have not literally worked for notliing and lived upon nuthing, they have come so near it as utterly to spoil the remark as a figure of si)eecli. The report of what they have done, will be ])resented by the superintendents of the several departments. 35 But, my friends, why should not this societ}', with such success as it hasah-eady attained, and such talent and such laborers in its bc- halt", even though homeless and penniless, be in good heart? Is it not the poor, ragged, frugal and hard working boy that ever makes the man? Who now are the two prominent candidates for the highest office in the gift of the civilized world? The one is a poor orphan and the other a poor rail-splitter. So may it be with our Association. Nurtured in poverty and want of all things, it shall yet rise through usefulness to glory; for such is the order of nature and of God. To this end all power and all force tends; and to this law all nature and matter must submit. Go on then, my friends, with thanks for the past and good hope for the future. Who, among us, in that Urst hour of our weakness — the natal hour of our Association — thought, then, that as much would be actually achieved in ten years, as has already been done in tAvo? and that, too, although the times have been seemingly all against us. It is true that we owe obligations to inany friends, both as individuals and as associations; to the hospitable citizens of this place; to the guardians of the Normal School liere; and to our great State Asso- ciations, Agricultural and Horticultural, now represented here; to the editors of the State, and to many others who cannot be mentioned — for they have all given us a hearty God-speed, and a hel])inghand, whenever they could. We, also, owe especial thanks to the gentle- manly conductors and guardians of our various railroads, whose gen- erosity and patriotism ever leads them to favor a good cause, quite up to, and sometimes even. beyond, the extent of their real ability. Nor should we forget that noble corps of Teachers, the Illinois State Teachers' Association, at one of whose annual meetings the first idea of this Society was suggested, and so many of whom have co- operated and sympathised with it in all its labors and trials. But the speaker owes to you, on the other hand, an apology, as well as thanks, in leaving again the office, with which you have seen lit to honor him for the two past years, in your hands. I frankly told you in the outset, that I could personally do but little for you; and unexpected events have rendered even that little far less than I intended — so very little in com])arison to what others have done, that I could not let this occasion pass without distinctly adverting to it. But that little has l)een done cheerfully — most cheerfully, and I only now crave your pardon, that it has not been more. Go on, then, my friends, with good heart and good hope. Use rowEii — grasp force — control matter — and thus, as thus mortal beings only may, serve man and glorify God. THE GREAT TORNADO OF 1860. By James Shaw, of Mt. Carroll. The great Tornado, of June 3d, i860, whicli swept, like tlie be- som of destruction, over the northern counties of our State, deserves more thau the passing newspaper notices it received at tlie time of its occurrence. In nuignitude it w'as the greatest in the history of storms. It originated far off on tlie prairies of the northwest; traveled in a southeasterly direction until it approached the Mis- sissippi river ; then gradually veered round towards the east in a crescent shaped pathway, until it assumed a northeastern course, on which it continued, passing over Lake Michigan and the Penin- sular State, till its force was spent, after a live hundred mile race. And here a strange fact might be noted. All the great tornadoes of long continued tracks, of which we have any knowledge, origi- nated near the same spot. Another, near the time of the great Tornado, swept along down to the southward, near the Missouri river, crossed into Illinois in the region of Alton, wheeled round towards the east and north, very similar, though less violent than the one of which we write. In 1844 a terrific whirlwind came dow^n from the prairies of Northwestern Iowa, crossed the Missis- sippi not far from the crossing place of the June storm ot the present year; then pursued almost its exact pathway across Whiteside and Lee counties in our own State. Not only the vast destruction of life and pruperty in the great Tornado of 18(30, but numy scientilic questions, heretofore but im- perfectly understood, demand the attention of the thinking, and turn hither the eyes of the scientilic w^orld. An unexplored field opens up at the very first inquiry into the causes and philosophy of these tornadoes. Little is understood of them. They have been chielly observed within the tropics — on the seas. The yielding waters closed over their pathway. Facts, data, phenomena, could not be collected. The little we did know about them is conq^letely at fault, when we come to explain the long, revolving storms of our mighty prairies of the AVest. New facts balfie all our science. 38 Old problems must be resolved. The deep philosophy of stornis ; the knowledge of "the winds in his circuit;" the forces of electri- city, heat, magnetism ; the laws of ilnids in motion ; a keen insight into the mysteries of meteorology — all these, and more, must be well understood before wo can solve all the problems attending these terrible storms. The fantastic modes in which the mighty forces of Nature sometimes act puzzle our most learned and scien- titic men. This was doubly so in the great Tornado of 1860. "Was it the ^^r^6'S«r(3 of the mighty storm wind ; was it a display of the electricity of the atmosphere ; was it some mightier power that produced results so contradictory and almost omnipotent? Sci- ence is now deeply engaged in the investigation of these questions. She needs in this work facts, data, phenomena. Every one, who has any, should give them to the world. A circumstantial detail of the minutest may prove of nmch importance. For such a pui-- pose, also, to add a few crude thoughts of my own, this paper is prepared. The subject cannot be better introduced than by some quotations from a sermon, preached in this village by the Rev. O. D. W. "White, a short time after the event it commemorated. He, in com- pany with the writer, visited the Tornado's track, Avhere its great- est power was displayed. Out of good eyes he looked, and treas- ured their observations in a wisdom loving mind. After describing the beauty and stillness of the holy Sabbath af- ternoon, by way of contrast, he proceeded: "There was a change — an appalling change. There came a wind, a rumbling, a rush, a crash, a whirl, a shriek, a wail, followed by a desolation that has sent mourning through the land — whose saddening echoes will be heard for ages to come. More than half a century will have elapsed before the scene will have been erased from the memories of eye witnesses. In the after part of the day the clouds began to con- gregate as they are wont to do about the \vestern horizon. At first they seemed to have met, like holy angels, for purposes of mercy, to shed the gentle rain upon the thirsty held and water the husbandman's toil. But soon they began to be disturbed and utter tones of anger, and pierce each other with arrows of tiery lightning. And then advancing, as a mighty army sweeping over the l)attle- field, they commenced their dire work of devastation and death. Everywhere in the course of the angry Tornado trees were uproot- ed and tossed into the air like feathers. The very land was Bcoop- ed up like the sands in the desert. Imbedded rocks were torn from their ancient resting places. Fences, barns, houses, cattle, horses, sheep', fowds ; with men, women and children, were caught up amid the darkened folds of the whirlwind, to be dashed down again and crushed against the unyielding earth. ^^ * * * The storm has been traced in its track, according to latest accounts, more than two hundred miles west of the Mississipjji river. When it was tirst seen it was advancing in two columns, which were six or eight miles apart. After passing Cedar Rapids, where soine 39 were killed and a number wounded under the ruins of razed build- ing!?, the columns united their forces, as they were about to make a furious charge upon the denser population of Iowa. Mechanics- ville, De AVitt, Camanche, Albany, Lindon, Como — all beautiful and growing towns — were the principal jjoints of the loss of life and property. The list of mortality is yet imperfect; but it is known that over one hundred and fiftij souls were precipitated into eternity ; and most of them amidst the wildest confusion of warring elements. In some instances whole families were blotted out of existence. In others, children Avere snatched from their mothers' arms and thrown into the angry vortex Again, others have been left orjjhans, homeless, clotheless, foodless, and I were about to say friendless ; but no ; thank God, thousands of kind hearts weep for the orphan ones; who would take them to their liomes of pleasure and of plenty. The list of the wounded is also im|)erfect. But it is keeping within bounds to say that over tv^o hundred are now suffering from wounds and bruises — some of whom will recover wholly, while others will be disabled for life. As to the destruc- tion of property, the loss will only bo estimated by the million. Many years will have elapsed before the desolated district will re- cover its wealth, population, and wonted activity. In the course of time the wound may be healed ; but the deep pitted cicatrix will be worn by the States of Iowa and Illinois till the time ressed it, and they only jumped up and down without advancing. The iron on the harness, traces and plow, in his language, "seemed all covered with fire." He felt a viofent pulling of his own hair, which left "his head sore for some days," and the hair itself rigid and inflexible. He tried to unhitch the traces, but something seemed t<» prevent him; he felt a violent twitching of his hands; l>ut finally succeeded, and mounting upon one horse he succeeded in making him advance, though his fright and his rearing and plunging and the peculiar appearance of his mane and tail contin- ued till he got out of the direct line of the storm which was for some minutes. He then turned from and out of the line of the 44 storm toward the lioiise. Then this appearance wholly subsided, and he turned to the stable, put his horses in, and ran towards his house, lie had got almost to the house before the wind began to blow. Then it almost instantly hurled house and all away with it. But as the cloud passed over, as soon as he came within it, its wliole appearance was changed. Instead of being bright, it was pitch dark, so dark that he could see nothing at all until he came to the center, when it was light again, making the impression on his mind that the dark part of the cloud was a mere shell, like the outside section of a tunneh Mr. Cowell distinctly states that while he was, for those few moments, riding in the direct path of the storm, the light was so brilliant that he could "not endure it with his eyes open, and for the most part kept them shut; M'hile the cloud be- hind in the horizon, still appeared as before, yet there was no wind, no thunder, and no noise whatever, except the mm-muring sound of the advancing tempest, which of itself was not audible at first. He thinks he thus rode in the direct path of the storm about lift}' yards before he turned to go to the house. As he de- parted from the center of the whirl, he experienced these phenom- ena less and less sensibly, and before he reached the stable there was nothing of it. "Mr Cowell's hired man, Mr. Alex. Campbell, who was at work in another part of the field not far distant, in passing also to the house, went directly across the track of the storm, which Mr. Cowell had crossed obliquely. He was also as much frightened at the light and the shocks he experienced, and shut his eyes as much as he could, and ran and soon passed through it. "Mr. Cowell states that others experienced similar effects who were near, though not in the center of the whii-l. "When the terrific whirl struck the house, which was a little at one side, as supposed, of the exact center of the storm, it swept everything before it, even tearing up the brick foundation of the chimney for a foot below the surface of the earth; stripping all the feathers off from some of the hens and turkeys, as perfectly clean as if picked for the table. Some, though badly plucked, and made entirely blind, still lived. But no thunder at all was noticed, and iio great noise whatever was heard while in the center of the dark cloud, thouo;h the roar to those a little distance without was ter- rilic. "The narrator stated that one John Ray reported that the Yer- non church, surrounded b}^ an Osage orange hedge, Avas taken up. with its brick foundation, and all together set over the hedge, which was not bruised by the passage of the liouse, and not a bri'ck of the foundation was left inside the yard. The house was set down again, and left quite whole. ""The narrator said that Dr. Ford, of New York, reported other instances of tornadoes, in which persons had their clothing entirely stripped from their backs. 46 '^How mucii, said Prof. Turner, of all these strange and almost incredible reports was due to alarm, or mistake, or misapprehension, lie had no means of knowin^r. He only reported the siibi-tance of the facts as reported to him, and quite a little pamphlet might be tilled with details, equally incredible, reported by persons of un- doubted veracity, the above being only given as samples of the strange facts that are so rcpoi-tcd. "But in May, IbGO, a whirlwind of less note passed over the so- called Ilillsboro farm, the residence of Prof. Turner himself, tear- ing down the fences, tearing the roofs completely from the larger buildings, sweeping away the smaller ones, etc., etc. lie had care- fully and accurately examined this ground during all the time the superintendence of the needed repairs was going on. And he es- pecially noticed that the old rotten glass window^s in the brick house, on the windward side as well as on all sides, toere left jjarfecthj whole and soiDidin t/ieir places, not one being blown out or broken, although the sash of some live or six of them was so rotten that a child could have pushed them inward with its thumb and linger; while the doors of the house and barn, all stout and stronij, were blown inward with such violence as even to tear uti' heavy iron hinges, and to tear out heavy pieces of oak timber, and the entire L of the house and roof and gables, were swept away from the same building and the same exposure. "Prof. Turner said that on no theory he had ever before admit- ted, could he account for this very singular fact as well as the facts reported by Mr. Cowbell and others. And he would inquire if ever any one l)ad heard of the windows of a house in tolerable repair being blown in by a toriuido, while the building was left standing; or if it was common, as in this case, to tear the strong parts of the house, and leave the weak and even rotten windows and wood on such, unharmed^ If so, what was the cause? He asked: Did it not appear self evident that mere 2)resfiure of any sort would burst in the frail windows of a house far sooner than any other part of it? And yet the reverse had certainly occurred in the instance narrated by him, and coming within his own expe- rience." These are all the data I have beeix al)le to gather in reirard to Recent Tornadoes in Illinois. Even these need confirmation. No two persons can be found after a tornado who will agree in all things. Terror takes away the power of correct observation. Il- lusions decei\'e the eye. Science, bef ire she can establish her deductions, must have more data — better established facts. Observers over the prairies of the Northwest must 2:atlier these in the coming years. A few crude speculations, however, will here be offered in re- gard to the scientific (piestions presented. If new data demand it, they can be corrected. How do the winds foi-m themselves into a whirl? Can their pressure and mechanical force produce all the physical results observable after such a storm as the one under con- 46 sideratioii i Is electricity tlie cause, or are its phenomena only tlie acconipaniinents intensilied of a thunder storm, dis])layed in a tornadi*? Can olectricity, by direct traastbrence of the Unid, or by induction, as in the })ith-l)alls of school room experiments, ac- count for such mi<;hty and fearful displays of power i 8ome philosophers and geographers explain all rotary storms to be the result of the meeting of two winds at an angle and their turning upon a center. If a cloud happen to be between these two winds, near the place of meeting, it would be rapidly turned round. Condensation and the electrical phenomena of a thunder-storm, if added, would give all the forces at work in a tor- nado. Such are the causes shadowed in the lirst quotation above, and also set down in our text books in geography and philosophy. This hypothesis, however, is exploded by more recent develop- ments in Meteorology and Atmospheric Electricity. In studj'ing the plulosophy of winds, it is a good thing to read the lessons of analogy in its la^^'S of liuids in motion in the rivers and seas. The air ocean has much in common with the earth ocean. Both have mysterious movements — tides, currents, atrial and ocean streams, eddies, mrelstroms, whirlpools, waterspouts— hurri- canes, tornadoes, whirlwinds — these have a family resemblance. At the confluence of two streams of water, even in a little brook, whirlpools are formed. The meeting of adverse ocean streams would present similar phenomena. These would travel but a short distance. The like might take place at the meeting of two adverse winds. But the M'hirl would be gentle — its path would be short. In the Indian Ocean and Chinese Seas, and in intertropical countries generally, where there is much disturbance of the air currents on ac- count of the iierce contest between the Trades and Monsoons, hur- ricanes, cyclones, doldrums, and waterspouts, are of frecpient oc- currence and of short duration — averaging but a few miles in length. But if this be the true theory, why not have tornadoes and whirl- winds in the winter and spring ;* Certaiuiy the winds are then fiercer and contrarier than at any other season of the year. Yet, instead of frequent rotary movements of the atmosphere, no one ever saw them at all in the wanter or early springtime. In addition to air in motion, heat and electricity both must be present in active manifestation. Some scientists consider one, some the other, as the great cause of tornadoes and all kindred storms. The fact — if it be a fact — that such storms whirl in one direction— to wit : contrary to the hands of a watch- — in tlie North- ern hemisphei'e, and in a contrary direction in the Southern and opposite hemispheres, seems to argue that the earth's revolution upon its axis also has a modifying influence. Suppose that the air of some locality becomes heated from any cause. Of course the heated air would rise into the higher regions of the atmosphere. Currents of other air would flow in from all sides to supply its place. Becoming heated, they, too, would rise ; 47 and, according to a well known law of motion, would receive a ro- tary movement, with a partial vacuum in the center ; just as in water liowing throiio;h a funnel. If a handful of down be scatter- ed near the top of the chimney of a lio'hted kerosene lamp, this may be illustrated on a small scale. The uprising current of hot air will carry all the particles which come into it upward, and gradually communicate to them a gyrating movement. Those out- side of tlie current will liow in, and rise as the others before them. And thus a whirlwind in miniature will be observable, as long as the cause continues. A large brush pile, or a house on lire, will atfbrd a similar illustration, with the sparks and smoke and white- caps flying about. In all these cases there is, perhaps, a partial vacuum in the center — the resultant of this kind of motion. Wa- terspouts are mere shells, being hollow in the center. It seems a fact that the dew point and point of saturation lie lower comparatively over the mighty prairies of the JS'orthwest. During the warm weather of summer, therefore, this lower and thin stratum of moist air, lying beneath the dew point, will be pressed down by the strata of dry air above. Radiation from the earth and other causes will tend to heat the moist stratum reposing on the earth's surface. This will produce a destruction of the at- mospheric equilibrium. Currents will flow towards the point of greatest heat, as above shown. As this lower, moist atmosphere rises into the cooler and dryer regions above, it will have its mois- ture rapidly condensed into clouds, or down-pouring rain. If electrical action now be added the tornado forces are complete. Thus, the Great Tornado of 1860 originated somewhere in the country of the Upper Missouri river. The Northwest winds bore it along, gently at flrst, but as the accumulation of momentum made it rage flercer and rise higher into the air, it was caught by the returning trade winds from the Southwest, carried round to- wards the iS'ortheast, its greatest curvature in its earth marked path being where it crossed the Mississippi ; which was also the place where it displayed its greatest force — the whole motion not beino- unlike a comet sweeoinff around its ijcrihelion. This ex- plains the action of the Tornad"o upon the ferry-boat and dit-hes at Albany, the cause of the trees being blown inwards on both sides of the storm's path, the East and West wind in rapid succession before and after its passage, and the strange position of things af- ter it was all over. The key to the explanation of its zigzag mo- tion is also found here. Rev. Mr. Ilarsha, of Dixon, prepai-ed an accurate and beautiful map of the Tornado's track across Clinton county, in Iowa, and Whiteside and Lee counties, in Illinois. The lesson of the map is very instructive. It teaches, that wherever the tornado changed from a direct line of advance, it was owing to some local obstruction, which cut off, or weakened, the inblowing air current from the side towards which the storm rushed. Tlius, it always left a direct path to hug along under a hill, or by the edge of a grove. Wlien the obstruction was passed, the direct coiu'se of 48 advance was again resnmed. Observers all agree in saying that the top ot tlie terrible, funnel-shaped cloud advanced in a straight line, but that the lower part described this crooked })ath, as we have seen, by obstrnctions to tlie currents of air i-ushing in. Mr. Ilarsha did much for the cause of science, and of humanity, too, in his study ot the great Tornado, of which we speak. His labor of love in relieving the suitering will be remerabei-ed side by side with his labor of science in preparing a very instructive map of a part of its pathway. I am indebted to him for many suggestive thoughts, as \vell as for the privilege of studying the map of which I have spoken. The peculiar state of the dew and saturation points being nearly the same over the prairies of the JN'orthwest — in other words, the strata of upper and dry, cool atmosphere, and of lower, surface, moist atmosphere, extending from the country of JNfebraska to the great lakes of the Northeast, gave the Tornado a field for its long and terrific course. It scooped up, over that five hundred miles of sorrow and death, from the warmer atmosphere below the dew point, the M'ind for its ragino; whirl, the moisture to be condensed into rain and hail, and the very electricity which made it so much more dreadful. This explanation of the causes of tornadoes seems to be the result of the more recent study into the philosophy of storms. Not only tornadoes, but even ordinary thunder storms, are carried on, proba- bly, in the same way — by lower moist air rising and being con- densed in a much milder manner. Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution, adopts substan- tially this hypothesis, after a careful study of the views of Loomis, Espy, Dr. Ilare, Redfield, and others, who have observed and writ- ten upon storms; and also after a comparison of a great amount of facts and data in possession of the Institution, of which he is Secretary. The electrical phenomena attendant upon these efiorts of the at- mosphere to restore its broken equilibrium, next claim our atten- tion. Dr. Ilare thinks electricity the cause of the tornado, and all such natural phenomena. This scientist attributes the violent up- ward motion of the air to a peculiar electrical state of the atmos- phere, in which, while the air is highly positive, the earth is neg- ative, and the, bodies carried up are repelled by the earth and at- tracted by the cloud. Whether this is the true explanation or not, every one can see the great disturbance of the electrical ecpiili- brium that must take place in a tornado. As a rule, the electri- city of the atmosphere is positive ; that of the earth, negative. The same is true during a thunder storm. The greatest electricians of this and other countries have demonstrated this by many and la- borious experiments. As a tornado passes over the landscape, sucking up and condensing the surface strata of moist atmosphere, with all its electricity and latent heat, the ground under the cloud must be constantly exhausted and the cloud constantly and greatly surcharged. Hence, there will bo constant discharges back to the 49 earth from the cloud. The equilibrium is constantly destroyed ; nature constantly seeks to restore it. Powerful attractions, repul- sions and inductions will take place almost with every stroke of lightnino;. Tornadoes and many other influences, carry electricity up into the air. The air being a non-conductor, or rather, being imbued with imperfect insulating poM^ers, the attempts of the elec- tricity to flow back again to the earth and restore the disturbed equilibrium between the ground and the clouds, are attended with various electrical phenomena. The tremulous and many-tinted undulations of the Aurora Borealis over the Arctic skies, is doubt- less nothing but electricity creeping back through poor conductors to the earth home, whence it had been enticed into the region of clouds. The fierce, unchained lightning, stabbing the earth as with the dagger of a god, is the same thing greatly intensifled. The ravages of the tornado — with its "terrific and appalling gran- deur; now pausing fitfully, as if to select with malignant caprice the objects of its unsparing violence; now descending to earth, and again drawing itself up, with its d^ep, loud and sullen roar ; its mysterious darkness ; its apparent, self-moving, resistless revolu- tions, carrying upward branches of trees, beams of houses, and large objects of every description ; its impetuous downward rush to the earth, and then again up to the sky ; its sublime altitude, sometimes erect, and at other times inclined ; its reeling and sweep- ing movements" — these may be the result of electricity suddenly accumulated, and bursting as suddenly out, before it has had time to discharge itself by more peaceful channels. Thus, Lieut. Jansen calls tornadoes "the circulating channels of electricity hidden in a deep night ;" and some authorities consider waterspouts as solely due to the same cause. Mysterious, all-pervading wonder, before whose phenomena science so often must stand dumb ! Philosophers and scientists tell us its powerful agency works unseen on the relations of the parts and properties of all bodies, effecting changes in their constitu- tion and character so wonderful and minute that it may be consider- ed the chief agent of Nature, prime minister of Omnipotence, the vicegerent of creative power. We also know that the lambent flame of the aurora ; the laws of crystalization, health, vegetation ; the great convulsions of nature, as earthquakes, whirlwinds, water- spouts, tornadoes, thunder-storms, and many other phenomena, are accompanied with and often depend upon electricity, or some of its magnetic or galvanic forces. Indeed, this imponderable source of all power and thought may be nothing but the exertions of the Divine Mind, as He rules the universe of mind and matter and force. We think, however, that Mr. Espy has well nigh settled the question that electricity is not so much the cause as the conse- quence of a tornado or thunder-storm. But, whether cause or con- sequence, we can see how intense electrical action must be. Even the mechanical force of electricity, especially of lightning, is great 60 and often inexplicable. Professor Lovering states that pavements have been torn up ; Jiair and hoofs carried into trees ; a hat trans- ported to the roof; the bark of trees detached below; leaves crisped on the under side; and sods turned up, by this force. The modus operandi of this force is as follows : Particles of air, suddenly elec- trified, fly asunder with a great explosive force, as do the pithballs attached to the prime conductor and electrified. A stroke of light- ning will suddenly imbue the air within a tree or rock with this more than gunpowder explosiveness ; and they will be blown into fragments. The air thus acting may lift a church ; or acting among the non-conducting feathers of a chicken, or goose, may throw them far from thebody of the fowl; or may jerk the tire from a wagon wheel and straighten it along the ground. All the phenom- ena spoken of by Professor Turner, and all observed in the great Tornado, may also thus be explained. But if this were not enough, the great force of the wind, together with the violent inductions, attractions, repulsions, above alluded to, would give a catalogue of forces, whose effects would be multiform, indeed. A kite flown into the clouds and acted on by induction, will have all its electricity driven into the lower part of the string, from whence it may be drawn off in sparks. So a tornado cloud, ex- tending high into the air, and acted on by induction, will have its lower extremity terrifically charged with electricity. Every flash to the earth will momentarily reverse the electrical condition of the cloud and the ground under it. Thus, mighty and conflicting forces will work out their designs on the grandest scale. " The tiny twinkle of Omnipotence" will be indeed seen and felt. Every one remembers the strange theory of some philosopher a few years ago, who proposed to produce rain by kindling great fires over an extensive tract of country. At the time he was con- sidered a crack-brained fanatic. But he had in his possession the true secret of storms. If he could have heated up a stratum of air, and charged it with moisture, he not only would have had a thun- der storm, but even might have had a tornado upon his hands. The summary we arrive at is this : The rarifaction of the at- mosphere in summer produces an unsettled state of the air in which the winds are liable to break loose from their controlling forces. A local heating causes a rush of winds to the place of disturbance. They m«et in the center and rise ; generally with a whirling, gyra- tory motion. They will only take place at a peculiar state of the dew point and point of saturation in the atmosphere. The whirl- ing vortex or vacuum will advance with the course of the wind in which it may happen to be. The low stratum of moist air lying below the dew point will be sucked in and carried into the upper atmosphere. The friction of the ascending moist air will produce fearful quantities of electricity. Rapid condensation will produce rain and hail ; evolve more electricity ; and free great quantities of latent heat. The electricity of the clouds and earth will act bj^ in- duction and mechanically. And thus, the tornado will be self- 51 sustaining, so long as the conditions of the atmosphere are favora- ble. Many years may possibly elapse before the atmosphere will be able to furnish the materials for so long and violent a storm. Meantime, it is earnestly to be hoped, that patient and exact ob- servations will be made during the coming summer, wherever a tornado or thunder storm occurs. Among the facts to be noticed, the condition of the dew point before the storm ought to be care- fully known. The clouds ought to be closely scanned, to obtain their electrical conditions and the force and direction of the wind currents. Observations on the tornado's direction, and whether the motion round the vortex is whirling, or upward ; whether low lands, streams, groves, and hills influence its direction ; lu- minousness, and width, and shape of tornado cloud ; condition of the atmosphere before and after its passage ; in short, every phenomena attendant upon it, from the minutest to the grandest, ought to be carefully observed. Especially, accurate surveys of the path of the storm, after its passage, noting accurately the di- rection in which trees and other objects are blown, should be made and preserved. Any and all such information, sent to the writer of this article, will be thankfully received, and used to the best of his ability. In this way we may be able to add some contribu- tions to the sum of human knowledge. Since writing the above some new facts in regard to our subject have been developed. Persons living near Lyndon, who were caught within the storm, assert that an intense coldness prevailed near the center. This is easily explainable from what has been before stated. The centrifugal force of the uprising, whirling cur- rents would produce a vacuum within, down which, at times, the upper and colder atmosphere would nish, mingled with rain and hail from the rapidly condensing cloud above. In this way a cen- tral spot would sometimes be very cold, notwithstanding it might be surrounded with raritied and heated air. T. B. Butler has written a book upon the " Philosophy of the Weather," in which he attacks, and in his own mind demolishes all the existing theories, and almost every conclusion arrived at by the most eminent meteorologists. lie makes a perfect Zouave charge upon them all, sparing nothing, and builds up no new the- ories where he has torn down all the old ones. So far as he un- dertakes any explanation at all, it is that electricity is the cause of all meteorological phenomena. The earth, he argues, is a great magnet, surrounded with magnetic currents in the form of circles and curves, just as the currents of a strong magnet arrange the iron filing round it. These electric currents act upon the oxygen of the atmosphere and carry it along, producing the circulation of the atmosphere. In a tornado, according to this doctrine, a con- tinuous current or stream of electricity exists between the earth and the storm cloud ; that these streams flow in from either side of the advancing storm, having polarity, and making a " law of cur- 52 vature ;" in sliort, " that currents of electricity alone could produce the sudden vacuum by removing the air above." His book is val- uable for the many facts and indefjitigable labor in its pages, but utterly fails to establish the supposition that magnetism and elec- tricity account for all weather phenomena. The very arguments adduced, every fact brought forward to overthrow the theories of Espy, Kediield, and others, goes to establish them. As for in- stance, he denies that the wind blows from all points towards the center of a storm; but admits that it flows in from either side in a curved path. "Very well. Now suppose a storm stands still and the wind blows towards the center all round. This is what he ex- pects to see made out. But give that storm a rapid onward mo- tion and things will be slightly disarranged. Add to this the air rushing down in the middle and up the sides, and a great com- plexity of motions will take place. Almost every objection urged against the theory, even the curved path of the inflowing lateral air currents are capable of a mathematical demonstration by the laws of motion and in accordance with the theories of Espy and Redfield. The former of these supposes the gyratory motion of the tornado ; the latter the aspiratory, or that the air currents flow in and up without any whirl. We think the true theory is a com- bination of both these, as advanced in a former j^art of this paper. In other words, the air flows in from all sides and begins to flow upwards in straight lines, but being subject to the law of motion, which makes fluids running through a funnel assume a rotary mo- tion, it is soon thrown into a gyratory motion, which increases as it gathers fresh momentum. Electiicity is not the cause, but the fearful accompaniment of a storm ; and in the tornado its fury is greatly increased by the fric- tion of the whirl and the rapid condensation of the vapor above. GEOLOGY OF A SECTION OF THE EOOK RIVER VALLEY, FROM OREGON, IN OGLE COUNTY, TO STERLING, IN WHITESIDE COUNTY. Read before the Illinois Natural History Society, June 2*7 th, 1860. By Oliver Everett, M. D., of Dixon, Illinois. My object, in this paper, is to give some of tlie results of obser- vations made by me upon the geology of the Rock River Valley, in Lee county, and a part of Ogle and Whiteside counties, or from about Oregon, in Ogle county, to Sterling, in Whiteside county. The surface in this part of the country is much more rolling, or undulating, than in most parts of the State. This is particuhirly the case in the upper portion of the section alluded to, in Ogle county and a part of Lee county, where it is frequently cut up into deep ravines, on the sides of which the underlying rocks are often exposed to view ; and the banks of Rock River and its tribu- taries frequently present bold, perpendicular bluffs of rock, from fifty to two hundred feet high, thus giving a tolerably good oppor- tunity for geological investigations. Tliese features are most promi- nent in the region of one member of the geological series of which I shall hereafter speak, viz : the Upper or St. Peter's Sandstone. In another section, where the Trenton Limerock underlies the drift, there are frequently found deep pits in the ground. These pits are generally more or less circular, and are from one to two or three rods in diameter, at the surface of the ground, and run to a point below. They are from ten to twenty and sometimes thirty feet deep, and have, evidently, been produced by the earth, in these places, falling into and being carried away by subterranean streams of water in the loose rock below. Below Dixon, although the surface is considerably undulating, it is not so abruptly broken by deep ravines, and the prairies gen- erally slope gradually to the banks of the river, seldom exposing the rocks at all. Below Dixon there is very little woodland along the banks of the river, while above, between Dixon and Oregon, a considerable portion of the country along the river is covered with 54 timber. Tlie timber is not generally of very heavy growth, al- tliough, in some places, on the bottom lands, it is quite large. It consists of the various species of oak and hickory common to the State, the bhick and white walnut, the sugar and silver-leaved ma- ple, box elder, (Negundo accrifolium,) sycamore, the red and white elm, hackberry, ash, linden, cottonwood, etc. The red cedar, the white pine, the ground hemlock, (Taxus Americana,) the black a»d the paper or canoe birch, (Betula lenta and Betula papyracea,) are found on the extreme verge of the rocks overhanging the river and creeks, beyond the reach of the prairie fires. All these last men- tioned species, except the red cedar, are found, as far as I have ob- served, only upon the bluffs formed by the St. Peter's Sandstone. We should naturally expect to find on a soil produced from the dis- integration of this sandstone, some plants which are not common to the rich alluvial and clayey soils of a large portion of the State. Accordingly I have found several species not included in Dr. Lap- ham's Catalogue, and some of them not in the additional lists sub- sequently made by Drs. Brendell and Bebb, and which I presume are not often found in other parts of the State. Among which I might name two species of vaccinium, the Aretostaphylos uvauisi, Lupeuu perrennis, Campanula rotundifolia, Talinum teretifolium. Lobelia kalmii, Cerastium oblongifolium, Linaria canadensis, Fra- garia vesca, and the Yiola lanceolata, which grows on the borders of ponds, or in wet places in this sandy soil. The drift formation, through this section, is probably not so thick nor so uniform in depth as in most parts of the State There are many things in relation to it which have peculiar interest, but my object in this paper is to speak of the rock beneath it. There is, in this section of about thirty miles of the liock River Yalley, a pretty good opportunity to study several important mem- bers of the low^er Silurian svstem, and some of the lowest strata of the upper Silurian series. Commencing at Oregon, w^ith the St. Peter's Sandstone, and as- cending the geological scale, as we go down the river, we find the Buff Limestone, (of Owen,) the Trenton Limestone, the Galena Limestone, and the shales, etc., representing the Hudson Piver group of the lower Silurian system, and the Niagara Limestone of the upper Silurian series. ST. petee's sandstone. The lowest rock which we find in the section under consideration is the Upper or St. Peter's Sandstone. It is the prevailing rock along the river, from a mile above Oregon to about three miles be- low Grand De Tour, a distance of thirteen or fourteen miles. On the north-west side of the river, I think that in no place dues this rock appear on the surface more than two or three miles from the river. On the south-west side it extends several miles back from the river. I should think that the thickness of this rock could not be less than two hundred feet, and probably more. The country 65 where tliis rock prevails is characterized by great unevenness. It is frequently cut up into deep and sharp ravines, and, in many places, there are bold, precipitous bluffs, from one to two hundred feet high. I have not often found these bluff's capped with the Trenton Limestone, as spoken of by Prof. Hall as being the case in Iowa. In many places this sandstone is interspersed with nu- merous horizontal bands or layers of iron, or sandstone so impreg- nated and cemented with the oxide of iron, as to be very iirm and resisting. These layers are from less than half an inch to two inches in thickness, and occur, one above another, in some places but a few inches, and in others several feet apart.. These layers resist the action of the atmosphere for a great length of time, and only give away from the disintegration and wearing away of the rock beneath, when they break off" and fall from their own weight. Between these layers the rock is sometimes very loose and friable, easily worked away with the pick. It appears as if, during the deposition of this rock, that occasion- ally, in these localities, the surface was in some way covered with a sediment of the oxide of iron, which, acting as a cement, rendered this portion of the rock much liarder and firmer than other parts of it. If you will examine one of these layers with a magnifying glass, you will see that they are made up j^rincipally of the same minute peculiarly formed grains of quartz, of which other portions of the rock is composed, stained and partially covered with the ox- ide of iron. We frequently find very beautiful ripple marks on these ferruginous layers. On some of them the impress of the ed- dies and ripples of the old Silurian ocean appear as fresh and pal- pable as if produced but yesterday. These markings are sometimes very singular and curious, mimicking the forms of organized life. Here is a specimen which I have been at a loss to determine whether it has been produced by the action of water or is an im- pression of some organized being. This rock is composed of small rounded grains of pure limpid quartz, which have a singular uni- formity in their size and shape, in some places cohering so slightly as to crumble in the hand, and in other localities so firmly cemented as to make a good building stone. This rock is in some places of almost chalky whiteness, but more commonly it has a grayish as pect, while in other localities it has a reddish appearance, being stained with the oxide of iron. As to the economical uses of this rock. There are several quar- ries on Franklin creek, in Lee county, and in Ogle county, where it has been pretty extensively used for building, and cut into win- dow and door sills and caps. There was a beautiful arched bridge of cut stone, from one of these quarries, built over Franklin creek, for the Chicago and Fulton Railroad, when it was first constructed. Professor Hall says that this rock would make an excellent mate- rial for making glass. It will be perceived that this rock, as it is found in the valley of Rock River, varies considerably from the description of it given br 56 Professor Hall, as it occurs in Iowa. Instead of its being uniformly the loose friable rock, spoken of by Mr. Hall, with scarcely cohe- sion enough to enable him to obtain cabinet specimens of it, we fre- quently iind it forming bold perpendicular, and sometimes over- hanging, cliffs, with strength and tenacity enough to make a good building stone. There are places where the rock is flinty and hard, and weathers out, like granite, in jagged and irregular peaks, high above the surface of the surrounding country. BUFF LIMESTONE. Next to the St. Peter's Sandstone, and separated from it in some places by two or three feet of shale and blueish clay, comes the Buft' Limestone of Owen, classed by Hall with the Trenton Limestone. This is a thick bedded, compact, semi-crystalline magnesian Lime- stone, in layers of from one to two feet in thickness. It crops out in many places above the St. Peter's Sandstone. Between these thick ledges there are thin shaly layers, an inch or two in thick- ness, abounding in fossils. Although these layers are full of fos- sils, there appears to be but a very few species. They are very imperfect — most of them are casts, and appear to be such as are common to the Trenton Limestone proper. This rock is often quite fine-grained and compact, and makes an excellent building stone. From an analysis of specimens of this rock in luwa, Pro- fessor Hall thinks that it may be very useful for the manufacture of hydi-aulic cement, as its composition was found to more nearly resemble than any of our other magnesian limestones, that of the best rocks used for that purpose in other places. These thick bed- ded layers are from twelve to eighteen feet in thickness. TKENTON LIMESTONE. The Blue Limestone of the "Western Geologists, or the Trenton Limestone of the New York survey, succeeds these magnesian beds. This rock is quite variable in its appearance. In some places it has a blueish color, particularly on a recent fracture, but more frequently it is of a dull buff color. It is not so thick bedded as the preceding rock, and is in some places quite shaly, and breaks up into small fragments when quarried. In other places the layers are compact and thick enough t^ make a good building stone. There are vertical crevices frequently found in this rock, which are from two to fifteen inches in width. Sometimes they are tilled with debris, and in other places are open and serve as channels for subterranean streams of water from the pits in the elevated ground back from the bluffs, which I have spoken of above. At the base of the bluff", after a heavy shower, or at the breaking up of the winter, swollen streams of turbid water may be seen rushing from them. The Trenton Limestone abounds in fossils. It is the oldest rock in this country in which we find a great profusion of the remains of organized beings, showing beyond doubt that the ocean of the lower Silurian era was filled with a multitude of the lower forms 57 of animal life. Here is a specimen not much more than twice as large as a man's hand, that has rei^resentatives from three of the grand divisions of the animal kingdom. This central figure is a fine large Trilobite, a beantiful specimen of the Articnlata ; and here are several fragments of coral and the stem of an Encrinite from the Tladiata, while the Molusca is represented by several of the Acephala and a Gasterapod. There are great numbers of Ar- thocerata found in this rock. Some of them are of very great size. I have seen sections of them that were eight inches in diameter. I have a part of one in my collection which is not more than six inches in diameter at its largest part, that is eight feet in length. Ammonites of considerable size are found in this rock. Among the Acephala are several species of Septaena. Strophomena, Ortliis, etc., are common in some of the layers of this rock. This rock is somewhat extensively used for building material, al- though for that purpose it is not equal in value to the magnesian beds below it. It makes excellent lime, and is extensively nsed for that purpose. Some of the layers of this rock, in this locality, are made np almost exclusively of fossil shells and corals, and are very compact and fine-grained, and receive an excellent polish, making a very beantiful figured marble. The Trenton Limestone is found principally in the bend of the river, in the npper part of Lee county, extending about four miles south, and is also found in a narrow ii)elt on the north-west side of the river, extending from Pine creek, in Ogle county, to within a mile of Dixon. GALENA LlilE STONE. The Galena Limestone succeeds and rests upon the Trenton Limestone. The line of demarkation between this and the Trenton Limestone is not always easily ascertained. Layers, partaking sometimes more of the characteristics of one of these formations and then the other, are often found intermingled for some distance, although the characteristics of the mass of the two formations are very distinct. It appears to be the prevailing rock, underlying the surface of the elevated prairie, over a considerable portion of the north-western part of the State — the streams having in many places cut down through it into the strata beneath. The Galena Limestone is a rock peculiar to the West, and is a very important member of the lower Silurian series. It is important not only from its thickness and the extent of country which it covers, and the many economical uses made of the rock itself, but from the rich minerals it contains. It being peculiarly the lead-bearing rock of the iSTorth-West, as is indicated by its name. The Galena Limestone is a coarse-grained, porous, and sometimes friable rock. It has a dull grayish and sometimes yellowish color, and, from its porous character, weathers out very rough and irreg- ularly. It is everywhere characterized by its peculiar fossil, the Sun Flower Coral, the Coscinapora sulcata or recepticalites of Hall. In the lower beds of this rock t|iere is a very beautiful species of 58 Favosite quite common. Its jientagonal columns, or rather tubes, fillet! "with transverse lamina of a pure siliceous material, radiating from a point, present a very beautiful appearance, particularly on a recent fracture. This coral is often found in large masses wliere it has Aveathered out of the rock, sometimes entire, but more fre- quently broken into fragments. Among the gasteropods found in this rock are theMarchisonia, Pleurotomaria, etc. The Orthoceras, Crytoceras, Ammonite, and some of the bivalves common to the Trenton Limestone, are often found in the lower beds of this rock. This limestone is the prevailing rock alon^ the river, from a mile above Dixon to near Sterling, where it disappears beneath the Hudson River group and the Niagara Limestone. This rock, as may be seen by the map, spreads out over a much greater extent of country as we go back from the river, on either side. HUDSON RIVEK GROUP. On the immediate banks of the river, along the rapids at Sterling, and at the base of the bluffs a mile above town, on the north side of the river, may be seen the various rocks, shales, clayey and bituminous deposits described by Professor Hall as the Hudson River Group. The rapids in Rock River at Sterling seem to have been produced by the wearing away of the shales of this forma- tion. I have been unable to ascertain what the exact thickness of this group may be, but think that it is probably not more than twenty -five or thirty feet. On the map accompanying this paper I have represented this formation in a narrow belt, surrounding the Niagara Limestone, on the east and north side. Although the rocks of this formation do not appear at the sur- face, except at the rapids and at the bluff above Sterling, I have been able to trace them, in the course indicated on the map, by ex- amination of the rocks thrown up in the digging of wells. NIAGARA LIMESTONE. The Niagara Limestone is found on the north side of the river, above Sterling, extending through the north-eastern part of White- side county. This rock is also a magnesian limestone, and re- sembles, in its composition and appearance, the Galena Limestone. There is a good opportunity to examine this formation at the quar- ries, a mile above Sterling. There it may be seen resting on a green compact rock of the Hudson River Group. The lines of charts common to this rock are found there in abundance, some- times forming layers six inches thick. The characteristic fossil of this rock, the Catenapora Escharoides, and a beautiful species of Favosite, are common there. I also noticed a species of Marchi- sonia and two or three bivalves. The rock from these quarries makes an excellent building stone, and is extensively used for that purpose. MASTODON GIGANTEUS. By C. D. WiLBER. During the last ten years, in various portions of Illinois, have been found the teeth and tusks, and, in some instances, the verte- brae, of a huge mammal, called the Mastodon. All the remains, thus far discovered, are indicative of the same species, i.e., Gigan- teus — so called from its vast size. Many teeth have been found in Northern Illinois, especially in the Lead regions. Some have been washed out by the rivers, at Spring flood, while others have been obtained in railway sections. The "largest specimen" of this order, (Mastodon,) once lived near Aurora, where his remains were recently found, in excavating for the track of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. There were the tusks and seven teeth — all in a good state of preservation, "the tooth of time" having consumed ail other vestiges. The teeth and tusks were found as near each other as when they were in the animal's head ; from which we may conclude that he laid him down to die with much composure, and was allowed to sleep on cpiietly through the ages. The tusks, when entire, measured ten feet in length and ten inches in diameter at the base ; they were curved upward, and were considerably worn at the ends, on the under side. They ap- pear to have been used as huge levers, for the purpose of overturn- ing trees, large and small, whose foliage and branches served him for food — a conclusion at which we also arrive from the construc- tion of his teeth. 60 a The foregoing figure represents one of the tusks in the natural po- sition. As it was uncovered, one of the hiborers, an Irishman, with an ax, cut it nearly asunder, thinking it was " white wood." It re- sembles the tusk of the Elephant, (or Mammoth, which is simply a fossil elephant,) whose tusks are fixed to tlie upper jaw like incisor teeth, and have a solid structure. The tusk of the Mastodon has an outer shell, one inch in thickness, very hard, fibrous and compact, not unlike the massive curved cables stretclied over the towers at the Niagara suspension bridge. The mass within is ^yhite, like de- cayed ivory. The weight of each tusk is 200 pounds, and judging from its shape, position and material, we are obliged to say that a forest of oak or pine would "grow small by degrees" before a drove of these formidable tree-eaters. The teeth, as one would, suppose, are of great size, and weigli from five to eight pounds each. The front teeth weigh from three to five pounds, and resemble, in their construction, those of grami- nivorous animals. They appear to have been worn out, the crown or enamel of the teeth having nearly disappeared. The above cut represents a " wisdom tooth" of the Mastodon. It weighs seven pounds, and measures eight inches in length and breadth, and is about five inches in thickness. The protuberances of the surface, from which the name Mastodon is derived, are smooth, and seem to have been used for breaking portions of limbs of trees, which was done after the manner of an old fogy flax- break, the processes shutting into, but not touching each other. The pieces or chips thus made, were then masticated by the front teeth, which served as molars, an exception to the present mode of grinding. However, some contend that the front teeth were used only as nippers, for biting off branches or leaves and grass. By observing the last figure, which represents one of the smaller teeth, the relation of the two sets will be readily perceived, and it will also appear that the huge monster was decidedly a vegetarian. 61 " The teeth consist chiefly of dentine, invested by enamel, thono:h a layer of cement, thinner than in the Elephant, invests the fangs, and is spread over the crown. The whole number of teeth is twenty-four, of which rarely more than eight are in use at one time. They are developed from behind, forward, in order to re- lieve the jaM'S from the excessive weight of the whole at once. Two on each side, in each jaw, are developed soon after birth, and are shed early. The first and second of the upper jaw resemble those ot the lower. The third is three-ridged. The fourth is three- ridged, larger, with the eminences notched. The fifth has three ridges, each with two eminences. The sixth is four-ridged, with a small heel ; the points sometimes bifurcated, deep furrowed, and measuring six and one-fourth by three inches ; and in one instance, nine and a half to five and a half inches." Several years ago, six Mastodons were exhumed in New Jersey ; and, as Cuvier had predicted from a single tooth, they had twenty ribs, like the Elephant. Within the ribs of one of the Mastodons, a dark colored earth was found, which, on being examined with a microscope, exhibited the remains of some vegetable, wdiich Dr. Lyell considers to have been the half decayed twigs and leaves of the pine or fir tree. The whole mass of vegetable remains taken from one carcass was eight bushels, or one stomachlul ! ! ! Taking the tusk as one-third of the length, which is the usual es- timate, and allowing half the length for the height of the animal, we can easily restore the proportions of the Mastodon, and we are obliged, therefore, to conclude that when alive and in all his glory, he was thirty feet long and fifteen feet high. But this estimate need not transcend belief, for we have already, in several museums of Natural History, remains of the Megatherium, (great beast,) measr.ring twenty- four feet in length. This was also a grass-eating animal. The Zeuglodon, (yoked tooth,) whose remains are in the St. Louis Museum, (Wyman's,) was ninety feet in length. It be- 62 loiifs to an order of reptiles inhabiting the waters of primitive oceans, which, a^es ago, became " dry hind." At this period the animal kingdom seems to have attained its limit. Huge beasts, like the Mastodon, stalked over the plains, and great Saurians plowed the waters, like Winans' steamers. The Prairie State was at that time mostly a watery waste, and Lake Michigan found its western shore many miles beyond its present limits. The northern part of the State was above the sea level, and was covered, doubtless, with coniferous trees and tall rush grasses. Fox river was tributary to the Gulf of Mexico, (as we have since called it,) and the Mastodon, like the ox, grazed along its banks. It has been thought that this individual, on going from the river to the upland, was '' swamped" in one of the " sloughs," and being very old could not extricate himself; so he died and his bones are with us until this day. Some have even said that the Mastodons were once so numerous that they consumed all our forests, leaving lis the ^:)?"ai/7'd5 and a few groves — a conclusion which accounts for our peculiar topography, and which is entitled t(i quite as much consideration as a dozen other theories in regard to our prairies. For what purposes these creatures were made, " we do not know, for we were not present." Nor can we see any uses which they could serve, except to teach us that, in order to complete the great work of Creation, another race must appear possessed of higher characteristics, and having no relation to the greatness of physical proportions. This animal must not be confounded with the Mammoth, or fos- sil Elephant — several species of which have been found in North" America, in the same formation. The remains of hoth the Masto- don and Mammoth have been found together, at Big-bone Lick, Kentucky. Professor Rogers argues that they lived together, in the long period of surface tranquility which succeeded the strewing of the general drift, and were overtaken and exterminated together by the same changes, partly of climate, partly of a second but more local displacement of the waters, which reshifted the drift and formed the later lake and river terraces. We subjoin a few notes taken from Dr. Warren's Report on the Mastodon, the most complete description extant. Dr. Warren had an entire skeleton in his museum in Boston. The skeleton of an Elephant was placed near the Mastodon, in order to show the con- trast of size and similarity of construction. The remains referred to, in possession, of Dr. Warren, were found near Newburg, on the Hudson river, in a large morass, the huge bones " lay sprawling out," each occupying its natural relation and position. The specimen above referred to is very nearly the same size as the one found at Aurora, and the measurements are nearly the same for each portion of its structure. The cranium is flatter than in the Elephant, narrow between the temporal bones, the face becoming twice as wide below the nasal 63 opening. The length of the superior surface, from the vertex to the edge of the pre-maxillary bones, is forty-eight inches, and the width between the superior orbiter processes twenty-eight inches ; the posterior or occipital surface is nearly vertical, roughened for muscular attachments ; the temporal bones are of great size, indi- cating the power of the muscles which filled them ; lower jaw V-shaped — the anterior pointed extremity having on the internal surface a long wide groove for the tongue. The cervical vertebra3 have short spinous processes, except the last, which is six and a half inches long ; the dorsals are twenty, and, with the three lumbar, form a considerable arch, the first seven having very long spinous processes; the first lumbar measures across the transverse processes seventeen inches; the sacrum consists of five bones, and is twenty inches long on the lower surface ; caudals probably about twenty two, very strong at the commencement of the tail, which reached to the knees. The ribs are twenty — thirteen true, and seven false ; the first nearly vertical, resembling a clavicle, and twenty-eight inches long ; from this the ribs increase to the ninth, which is fifty- four and three-quarter inches ; thence decreasing to the last, which is twent3'-one inches. The massive humerus is thirty-nine inches long, with equal circumference, with a remarkable projection, ex- tending two-thirds down the limb, for the deltoid muscle ; the cir- cumference of the elbow joint is forty-four inches ; radius is twenty- nine inches long ; ulna much the stoutest and thirty-four inches long. The thigh bone is massive, and about as long as the hume- rus, seventeen inches in circumference at the middle, and thirty at the lower portion ; the kneepan nearly globular ; tibia human-like, twenty-eight inches long, thirty inches in circumference above and thirteen and a half in the middle ; fibula twenty-six inches ; feet more depressed and toes more radiating than in the Elephant. This skeleton is eleven feet high ; seventeen feet from end of face to beginning of tail ; the latter being six and two-thirds feet ; circumference around ribs sixteen feet five inches ; tusks about eleven feet, of which eight and two-thirds feet project beyond the sockets. The size of the head of one specimen, found in Orange county, New York, is as follows : breadth, thirty-one inches ; height, thirty-three and a quarter inches ; length, forty-eight inches. An analysis of the tusks shows the following constituents : Animal matter, 26.2 Phosphate and carbonate of lime, 69 . 2 Water, 4.6 100.0 About thirty species of the Mastodon have been described, most of which are European. Their remains are generally found in their natural state, not petrified ; because, as in most cases, they have been preserved in morasses and peat swamps, whose antisep- tic powers are well known. u The specimens found at Alton, consisting of teeth and jawbones, were preserved in debris of limestone. The teeth were not clianged in any respect. The bones were somewhat honey-combed by the action of lime. ^ The remains found at Aurora were slightly impregnated with iron, which is another means of preserviition. At what time this gigantic creature came upon the earth is a point not yet iixed. There are some traditions, faintly showing that the earlier races of men were acquainted with him, and that they have become extinct within two or three thousand years, or within a few centuries, like the Dodo and Dinornis. Lyell consid- ers that, although tliey are geologically recent, their destruction occurred many thousand 3'ears ago, mainly through climatic changes. From the remains found in Europe, it is evident that the American Mastodon is much more recent, since it is here found cotemporary with the Mammoth, or Elephant, and, in Europe, as far down as the middle of the Tertiary formation. THE WATER LILT. {Nelumhium Zuiem.) To face page 65. THE WATER LILY. ox THE PECULIAR GROWTH OF THE WATER LILY (NELUMBIUM LU- TEUM, Willd.) Read before the Hlinois Natural Histoiy Society, June, 1860. By FuEUEKiCK Brendel, of Peoria, Hlinois. EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. Fig. 1 — The ovary longitudinally divided. Fig. 2 — The seed longitudinally divided, showing the primordial leaves (a,) and tlio radicle (ft,) one cotyledon (c,) and the l)ony pericarp. Fig. 3 — The young plant produced by the seed. Fig. 4 — The flowering plant produced by a bud : a the rootstock, h the outer scale of the bud; througli the Ijaso of it passeth tlie stipule, (J,) and the terminal bud of which is to be seen the prolongated stem, (e.) Through the base of the stipule generally passcth another bud, prolongated into a runner ; c, the inner scale of the bud, protecting the leaf and the flower bud ; /, the leaf — this, measuring sometimes two feet in diameter, and the flower, (r/) are, in proportion to the rest of the drawing, many times too small. Tlic petiole and peduncle are rough, with black tubercles. Fig. 5 — A cut of the stem. The stem, ihizoraa or runner, however we call it, has an internal structure more like the endogenous plants. Cylindrical cavities, generally 8 to 0, in the peduncle 6, in the petiole 4, larger ones and many in- terstitial smaller ones run side by side along, sometimes interrupted by ten- der diaphragmas. These cavities run only from one nod or rootstock to the other, the rootstocks being solid. The four larger channels of the pe- duncle an." continuous, with two larger and two smaller cavities in the base of the leaf, indicated on the upper surface l)y four yellowish-green spots. The cavities again continue in smaller chaiiuels, which run on both sides of the nerves to the periphery of the leaf. Fig. 6 — The diaphragraa magnified, showing a beautiful net-like structure. Fig. 7 — The diagram as constructed by Trecul : «, the leaves ; i, the axillary stipules c, the e.Ktraf(diary stipules; d, the abortive stipule ; c, the aboitive leaves. GG The Water Chinquapin {Nelumbiuni luteum^ Wdld.,) a phmt of a very peculiar fjjrowth, which is common in our Western ])oncls and hikes, bekmt^s to the Isehimbo family, of wliich o^selumbium is the single genus. This ])lant — and so, probably, the few other con- genial species — differs so much in its growth from other dicotyl- edonous plants, that Trecul, a French botanist, in a j)aper read be- fore the Academy of Sciences at Paris, said : "The singular or- ganization of this plant seems to defy all our systems." Yet he makes some efforts to demonstrate that the leaves and 8ti])ules, al- thoiigh simulating an anomalous disposition, submit to all the laws of ])hyll<»taxy. it must be remarked here, that Trecul speaks of N. codo})hyllum, Kaf , and that this is doubtless the same as K. luteum, Willd., the only species which is known in the Western and Southwestern States. The fruit of the Nelumbinm is a bony nut, lialf imbedded in cavities of a lai'ge spongy obconic receptacle, containing a single seed, which is suspended on a filiform funicle, rising on one side of the nut to the apex. A second ovulum in the ovary is abortive, the funicle of which rises on the opposite side, as to be seen in the ovary at an early state. (Fig. 1.) When the seed is germinating the radicle and the cotyledons do not come forth like in other seeds, but rest in the nut, which is gen- erally laying on the surface of the mud, below the water. The primordial leaves are already highly developed in the seed, (Fig. 2,) bent down on the inside of the petiole, and inclosed in a very tender membranous, hood-like sheath. When the stem has left the nut, the petioles of the obicular peltate leaves, rolled inward from two sides, rise on their prolongated petioles, and, unfolding, float on the surface of the water. In the axil of the second leaf there is a stipule, which envelops the next, and so on to the fourth or fifth leaf, the stipule of which en- velops the terminal bud. The first four or five leaves, alternating on two opposite sides, are very close together; then the ])ro- longated stem, with the terminal bud, runs into the mud, I'ooting there, and sending up one leaf, which is provided with three mem- branaceous protective organs, one axillary right as on the ])rece- ding leaves, and two others, which Trecul calls extrafoliary stipules — one behind the leaf, protecting the same, and a second below on the opposite side, which envelops the w-hole. The terminal bud passeth through the latter, piercing it at the base, and produces at a dis- tance a leaf on the upperside, and so on. Now, this one-sided dis- tribution of the leaves, when the first leaves are bifarious, and the laimber of stipules differing in the young and in the older plant, astonished the mind of Mr, Trecul, and endeavoring to solve 'the question he relied on the following teleological argumentation : ''The two primordial leaves need no protection, except that of the cotyledons and a thin hyaline membrane covering both togeth- er, like a miter. The following leaves need a protection, and so .ve find one stipule in the axil of the second, third, fourth, and 67 sometimes the fifth leaf; tlie merithalls being very short, one sti- pule is sufficient. Bat afterwards, when the rhizoma descends in- to the mud to a depth of twelve to Hfteen inches, the mcritlialls grow longer before the terminal leaf has acquired strength enough to resist tlie action of destroying external intluences— /. ^., fermen- tation of organic matters. JSTow, the axillary stipule, as it covers only the lower part of the merithall, is insufficient; nature pre- vented destruction by providing the u}>per extremity of every in- ternode with two supplementary stipules. But nature Avorks ac- cording to lixed laws, and there is no harmony between the early and the later state of growth — the iirst four or live leaves are dis- tichous ; the following wdiich are provided with three stipules, ap- pear oidy on the upper side of the rhizoma." To restore accordance with these different arrangements, Trecul supposes tliat the two extrafoliary stipules are the axillary stipules of abortive leaves, and that a third leaf and its stipule is abortive, and all these organs are abortive because nature did not want them. Teleology is gen- erally founded upon hypothesis, and should be abolished in natural sciences. Cool observation relying u})on facts leads on a weary but sure way, when hypothesis leads too often astray. Desirous to lind a convenient explanation, we are induced by the slightest probability to believe without sufficient evidence. It seems to me that Trecul, to save a system, which in this case is nut at all in dangei', mingled entirely different things. The prolongation of the stem from leaf to leaf in the older plant is not a merithall, but a runner with a terminal bud, the origin of a new individual, con- sisting of a solid rootstock, and producing one leaf, one flower, and new runners, and the so-called extrafoliary stipules are the scales of the bud. The distribution of the leaves in the whole concern of connected individuals has nothing to do with the laws of phyllo- taxis. The arrangement of the leaves in our plant is distichous in the individuals produced by the buds, as well as in those produced by seeds: that proves the position of the scales of the bud. The difference is, that the former produces a fructiferous scape and only one leaf; the latter produces four or five leaves and no fruit, but only a terminal bud, mediating the propagation in a secondary form. This reminds slightly of the alternate generation of some invertebrate animals. In this way we need not the very ingenious, but too fictitious, explanation of Trecul ; unexplained is only the want of the stipule in the axil of the first leaf. We say, better w^e do not know the reason, than to explain its absence by the hypothesis that nature did not want it. Fig. 5. TAXIDERMY. DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING AND PRESERVING SPECIMENS IN ORNITHOLOGY. By R. II. Holder, Bloomington, Illinois. In this paper upon ])reserving and monnting birds, prepared in accordance with a resohition of the jSTatural History Society, passed at its annual meeting in July, 1861, I have endeavored to make the process as easily understood as possible, by a plain account of my manner of operation, with illustrations of all the important por- tions of operator and subject. But with the most elaborate article and series of illustrations, it requires much practice and some artis- tic taste, to succeed in mounting birds successfully ; though ahnost any one, with a little practice, may prej^are specimens for exchange or study. TOOLS AND MATERIALS. Supposing you to possess a suitable gun, your next requisite is shot of a proper size for the particular specimens you wish to pro- cure, though it is better to be provided with several sizes, say Nos. 0, 8 and lO, the latter being suitable for Warblers and other small, birds; for Humming-birds, sift No. 10 through a common meal seive ; you can always procure a few charges to each pound, of dust shot, with which, by choosing proper distance, you may obtain these diminutive creatures with little injury. A basket, such as used by fishermen, aud called a " Trout basket," is best for carrying specimens, as you can lay in birds without danger of breaking the feathers. Instruments necessary for skinning, are, a sharp knife, a pair of short-bladed, sharp pointed scissors, (Fig. 2,) a large, strong pair, (Fig. 1,) a pair of spring forceps, (Fig. 3,) and a pair with long blades, (Fig. 4,) a hook for suspending the bird whilst skinning, to be attached to a wire or strong twine, and suspended from tlie wall, a shallow dish or tray to hold plaster of Paris. Additional tools, for mounting, are a strong pair of wire cutter?, two or three sizes of plyers, needles, thread and twine ; moss, such as found on rocks or old logs — soft and. green is best for small birds— and frost-cured prairie hay, or blue grass, for larger; tow, for tilling out with, -and cotton for various purposes, though the lat- ter is to "be avoided in all cases excepting in tilling the throat and occiput, as hereafter described ; annealed wire of various sizes, and for a preservative, arsenic, for Avhich there* is no substitute; all preparations, intended as such, not being any more efficient, and requiring more labor and time to apply, now TO TREAT A BIRD WHEN SHOT. Having wounded a bird, it is necessary that it be killed without further injury ; to do this open wide your right hand and carefully inclose him in it; then,' with the thumb and fore finger of the left placed under his wings, press upon his lungs until his struggles cease ; plug the shot holes and mouth with cotton, and having pre- pared a stili' paper cone, drop your bird in, head down, and neatly fold the end over the tail, and lay in your basket, taking care during the whole proceedings to avoid rumpling or breaking the feathers, as it will save you much after labor, TO CLEAN THE FEATHERS, Having brought your specimens home in good order, and laid them upon the table, with the tools handy at your -right hand, and tray of plaster on the left, ,-you pass a strong thread through the nostrils, remove the cotton from the mouth and put in fresh ; with a sponge and clean water, (a little warm is best,) wash all blood and dirt from the feathers, then, with a moderately stiti" brusli, (a hat, or soft hair brush is best,) apply the plaster, brushing briskly at the same time, until 7J6r/k'% dry ; by this means specimens may be restored, that otherwise would be valueless. now TO SKIN A BIRD. The bird is now ready for your knife, with the o-^ga of which separate the feathers on the breast, and you will find a line, bare of feathers, as if left by nature for this operation ; with tlie fingers of the left hand keep the feathers back, whilst with the knife you cut through the skin, from the lower end of the breast bone to the vent, as shown in Fig. 6 ; sprinkle a little plaster upon the exposed surface ; now take hold of the skin with the fingers of the left hand, whilst you press against the body, with your forceps held in the right, as seen in Fig. 6. Having thus loosened the skin upon both sides, as low down as you conveniently can, place the thumb and forefinger of your right hand upon the skin over the breast, press downwards, and you wall expose the whole of the breast to the Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 9. Fig. 10. 71 neck; insert the liook, and suspend b}^ cord ; now take hold oftlie ]ieek, pull upwards, at the same time tbrcinc^ your thumb and fore- finger under the neck, brinc^ing it clear of the skin sufficiently to insert your scissors, when you sever the neck, as seen in Fig. 7. Lay hold at the wing, pushing down, at the same time opening a place under the wing bone with your fingers, in which place your scissors, and cut off at the shoulder, as seen in Fig. 8. Having cut off both wings in this manner, you now carefully separate the skin from the back, using great care as you reach the loins, as here it adheres so closely that it is easily torn ; now take hold of the leg, at the lower joint, with tlie left hand, and with the thumb and fore- finger of the right, on either side of the thigh, press down the skin, insert your scissors at the joint, and sever, as shown in Fig. 9. Then careftdly force down the skin to the base of the tail, and cut ofi'; remove the oil sack and fiesli adhering; next strip the legs of all fiesh or fat, then take the wing bone, draw out to the torearm, when with your fingers force tlie skin down sufficiently to expose the fiesh, and with your knife remove it, not separating tlie shafts of the feathers from the bone. In large birds, and especially in hawks, geese, etc., the wings can be more easily cleaned from the outside, makino; an incision the Avhole len2:th of the forearm, on the underside, separate the skin and remove flesh ; the opening need not be sewn up. Having now reached the neck, take hold with your left hand, and with yonr right strij) to the skull; here, carefully turning the skin, you reach the ears, which seize with your nails and tear out, then force down the skin, leaving bare the eyes, insert the point of yonr spring forceps in the socket, and work around, loosening the eye, then lift out and tear loose from the lids ; next, with your knife, cut loose the tongue and separate the neck at the base of the skull ; now, with your scissors, cut down each side of the jaw and through into the skull, removing the roof of the mouth and exj^os- ing the brain, which scoo]) out with your forceps ; a])piy plenty of arsenic to all ]iarts of the skin, especially about the head and base of tail; then fill the eye sockets with cotton, turn back the head, being careful to avoid stretching the skin, adjust the feathers, and your bird is ready for mounting, or to be made in form for ex- change. TO SKIN DUCKS, GEESE AND OKANES. There are many birds, such as ducks, geese, cranes, etc., whose heads are too lars-c to be drawn throu£!:h the neck in the ordinary manner; with these proceed as in other birds, draw the neck through as far as possible, cut ofi", then separate the feathers on the throat, and make an incision large enough for the head to pass through, then proceed as before directed, sew np the cut with fine thread and short stitches, and adjust the feathers. If proper care has been taken, the place opening is not perceptible. It must l)e understood that during the whole process of skinning there must be a tree use of plaster, as fast as new surface of flesh and fat is exposed, and very much of your success in making good skins depends upon this. In large birds that are very fat or oily, you can baste stri])S of thick brown j)aper over the edges of the skin where jou commence. Use corn meal as an absorbant. TO MAKK A SKIN FOR EXCHANGE. Having the skin off, you wish to prepare it for exchange ; lirst pass a thread through the forearms of the Avings, and tie close enough to bring the Avings to their natural position, wrap some cot- ton around the leg bones, and the skin is ready for lilling, which is done after this manner : suppose your specimen to be a quail ; you take a round stick, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and rather longer than the body and outstretched legs ; take some tow or cotton, (the former is best,) and wrap around the stick, forming the neck the natural length and size, and the body as near the origi- nal shape and size as possible, having it rather smaller in prefer- ence to being larger; insert this in the body, the neck end of the stick entering the cavity of the skull ; take two or three stitches, just sufficient to hold the skin together, cross the legs over the stick and tie ; pass a little cotton in the mouth to fill out the throat; tie the bill, place the head in a position as seen in Fig. 10, cut a narrow strip of paper and pin around the body, and lay away to dry. DIRECTIONS FOR MOUNTING — TO PREPARE WIRE, ETC. Having the skin made, you wish to mount it; select your wire, having it large enough to support the bird rather flrmly, but not too large, or you will be unable to pass it up the legs without risk of injury. Cut off a piece about four times the length of the spe- cimen, twist one end around a nail driven firmly into the wall ; seize the other end with your plyers and pull until you stretch it slightly ; this will straighten it better than any other method. Cut into three pieces, making your cut obliquely, which gives you some- thing of a point, and in most birds needs no further sharpening. TO MAKE THE BODY. Take some hay, or 'moss, and wrap it well with thread, forming it with your fingures at the same time, as near the size and shape of the natural body as possible, preferring that it should be rather less than larger ; cut off your winding thread quite long, and with it arm a needle, and sew through the back, at a a a\\\ Fig. 11, which will make a sharp offset, giving room for the bone of the wing to lie in ; run a wire through the body at the back, and with your forceps turn the end in so as to fasten ; wind some cotton snujothly around the wire, for a distance slightly exceeding the natural neck, but not any larger. See Fig. 11. Fig. 12. Fig. 11. Fig. 13. Fig. 14. Fig. 15. '73 Let me impress n])on the beginner these facts : you cannot take too much pains in forming the body, to get it the right size and shape ; and tliat if you make it but a trifle too largeyou may as well throw the bird away, for you cannot make it a good specimen. WHERE AND HOW TO PUT IN THE WIRES. Take a wire and thrust it through the foot at the heel, passing up as close to the bone as possible through the feathered portion, turn back the skin, pass the wire up until a little past the end of the bone, wrap around both bone and wire cotton enough to fill out the thigh nearly as large as natural, draw back and proceed with the other in same manner. Lay the bird upon its back, adjust the feathers, straighten the neck, take the artiticial body in the right hand, and pass the wire of the neck up until it enters the skull ; place the Angers of the left hand upon the head over where you expect the wire to come through, (which should be the center of the skull;) work the body slightly so as to drtll through, press it forward until in its place ; now take hold of the leg and enter the wire a little forward of the center of the body, pass it through and turning the ends in to fas- ten, as shown in Fig. 12 — B B showing the place of enterino;, and cc where they protrude and lasten. TO SEW UP. Bring the legs together a little and see if the body looks full and round at the sides ; if not, fill out with chopped tow, being careful not to fill too much, so as to stretch the skin ; take a worsted or slender darning needle, armed with strong cotton, and commence at the anus and sew up ; a stitch every inch is close enough until you reach near the breast, when half that distance will beriirht: in cutting off your thread leave it two or three inches long, to be cut shorter after the bird is dry. TO GET THE WINGS INTO PLACE. Punch holes on your block, press through the leg wires and fas- ten underneatli ; clasp the body with your hand and bring it to some- Avhere near the position you wish ; next place your thumb under the wing, and Angers over, seizing the arm bone of the wing, lift it up and tuck into the place made in the body to receive it ; pull the feathers from under, at the same time forward aiid over the bend of the wing ; pass a sharpened wire or long pin through and into the body; proceed Avith the other in the same manner; now take hold of the bill with the lei"t hand, with the right firmly hold the body, push back with the left, until you bring it upright, and near its natural position. The beginner will find more difficulty in getting the wings pro- perly in place than any other part of the operation, and unless right, it is impossible to make a bird look Avell. In lifting the —8 74 wing into place, be sure to get it high enough up, but not so high as to raise the scapulars, but so that they will lie smoothly over the forearm; also see that the wings are neither thrown too far for- ward or back; and the best directions I can give here is, to study your specimen before you commence; see how i'ar ihmi end of tail the wings fold, and the same of the outstretched feet; make your- self familiar with the bird in every respect when in the woods, with its habits, and on your table, with its relative proportions, and you will be less likely to caricature nature, as ^eeu in most of our public collections. TO FILL OUT THROAT AND BREAST. Your bird is now, as shown in Fig. 13, with the throat and breast at E E E, not filled out sufficientl}'- to the point marked F ; take a wire and drag otf a little cotton and pass through the mouth, continuing until you have given sufficient fulness, at the same time snioothini!: with your tinij-ers and iji vine: the rounded outlines of throat and breast. now TO WRAP A BIRD. Having already thrust one pin in the body through the wings, now enter one just helo'w^ about the middle of the body, one back of the leg, and one at the shoulder, as shown on Fig. 12 ; now wind some thread from one to the other until you have secured the wings firmly in their place, and bound down any feathers not dis- posed to be smooth ; use j^^eniy of thready as with this you can do much towards making your bird smooth and symmetrical. TO SPREAD THE TAIL. T^Jce two narrow strips of card board and pass a wire through both ends of them, and bend together ; with this clamp the tail, spread the feathers smoothly, twist the ends together, give it a lit- tle roundness, pass a wire between the clamps, through into the body, and set tail in position desired, as shown in Fig. 14. TO MOUKT IN FLYING POSITION. To set up a bird in flying position, you first put the head in po- sition, throwing it itjp more than in a resting position ; place the bone of M'ing as beiore described ; raise up the wing a litile above hoi'izontal, run a pin down the fore arm into the body ; now fill out the throat and breast, take a long pin or wire, and raising up the wing insert the pin beneath and another immediately over ; stretch it out, see that every feather is in place, then twist the wires to- gether, bend so as to give the natural concavity of the wings ; spread the tail, bending it np as shown in Fig. 15. FURTHER DIRECTIONS FOR MOUNTING CRANES, GEESE, ETC. In mounting cranes, geese, and all long necked birds, proceed as before described, except that you fill out tiie breast with chopped 75 tow to its full roundness before sewing np, as you cannot introduce the cotton as directed for small birds ; the throat is filled out as in others. With all large birds, in removing a piece of the skull for extracting the brain, and the tiesh adhering, it necessarily destroys the symmetry of the head, to remedy which, introduce some cotton through the eye between the skin and skull, sufiicient to restore its natural feathers. VAKNISn THE LEGS. It is a good plan to give the legs a light coat of varnish, as it prevents their scaling, and protects them from insects. TO PEEPAEE DKIED SKIXS FOE MOUNTING. Take a box large enough to receive the skins, and fill half full with clean tine sand thoroughly moistened but not vjet ; lay in your skins, and spread over a damp cloth, set away for twenty-four hours, when they will be soft enough to remove the tilling ; then fill every portion with cotton well saturated with water ; if a long legged bird, also wrap the legs with wet cotton ; set away for twenty-four hours, when, change the wet filling, dampen the cov- ering cloth and set away again ; on the third day they will ordina- rily be ready for use ; though quite small birds will take a little less and large a little more time. When read}'' to mount, remove the tilling, and till with cotton wet in hot water, and let it remain an hour before mounting. 1.. BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. CATALOGUE. By R. H. HoLDEK, of Bloomingtou, Illinois. In the department of Ornithologj', I liave to report the collec- tion of over two hundred specimens, comprising one hundred and fifty-two species, which are mounted, named, and ready to deposit in the museum of the Society. JSTearly all the families in Orni- thology found in this State, are represented, and one or two are nearly complete in genera and species. It is hoped that with the assistance of A. M. Gow, of Dixon, and Dr. Yelie, of Rock Island, now associated with this commission, and by a system of exchanges begun this summer, that this department may keep pace Avith others of the Society. AVith this report I ofler a list of the Birds of Illinois, as com- plete as present information can make it, and arranged according to the classification adopted by Prof. Baird, in the ninth volume of Pacific railroad reports, only differing by grouping the genei-a into families, instead of the minute subdivisions given in that work. I must also acknowledge my indebtedness to the catalogues of Messrs. P. Kennicott and Henry Pratten, who left but few to add to the enumeration of species, making my labor one of classifica- tion, rather than collection. With the few species not enumerated in former lists, and added in this, the wdiole number of species found in this State is two hundred and forty-eight ; but I have no doubt that a thorough exploration will greatly increase the num- ber; I would recommend that catalogues of birds, from every sec- tion of the State, be requested of such persons as may be willing to devote so much time to the furtherance of Natural History. Southern Illinois and our large rivers afibrd peculiar facilities, and specimens and li^s of birds from those sections will prove most acceptable. 78 Nothing, so fill', has been done towards collecthig eggs and nests. Would it not be advisable to make and till a commission on Oologj irv. ORDER RAFATORES. FAMILY YULTUKID^. Cathartes Aura. Turkey Buzzard. FAMILY FALCONID^. Falco Columbarius. Pigeon Hawk. Falco Sparverius. Sparrow Hawk. Accipiter Cooperii. Cooper's Hawk. Accipiter Fuscus. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Buteo Borealis. Eed-tailed Hawk. Buteo Lineatus. Red-shouldered flawk. Archibuteo Lagopus. Rough-legged Hawk. Archibuteo Sanctijohannis. Black Hawk. JSauclerus Furcatus. Swallow-tailed Hawk. IctiniaMississippiensis. Mississippi Kite. Circus Hudsonius. Marsh Hawk. Aquila Canadensis. Golden Eagle. Haliactus Leucocephalus. Bald Eagle. Pandion Carolinensis. Fish Hawk. FAMILY STKINGIN^. Strix Pratincola. Barn Owl. Bubo Virginianus. Great Horned Owl. Scops Asio. Mottled Owl. Otus Wilsonianus. Long-eared Owl. Brachyotus Cassinii. Short-eared Owl. Syrnium Cinereum. Great Grey Owl. Syrnium Nebulosum. Barred Owl. I^yctale Acadica. Saw- whet Owl. JSyctea Nivea. Snowy Owl. Surnia Ulula. Hawk Owl. (^ R D E R S C A X S R E S . FAMILY rSITTACIDJS. Conurus Carolinensis. Carolina Parrot. f FAINHLY CUCULlDJi:. Coccygus Americanus. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Coccygus Erythrophthalraus. Black-billed Cuckoo. 70 FAMILY PICID,E. CaiiipepLiliis rrincij3alis. Ivorv-billed Woodpecker. Piciis Villo.-us. Iliiiiy AVood pecker. Picus Pubej-cens. Downy Woodpecker. Spliyrapicus Varius. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Ilylatomus Pilcatiis. Pileated Woodpecker. Centurus Carolinus. Ked-bellied Woodpecker. Melanerpes Erythroceplialns. Reddieaded Woodpecker Colaples Aiiratus. Golden-winged Woodpecker. ORDER IXSESSORES. FAMILY TKOCIIILIDiE. Trocliilus Colubris. Ruby-throated Humming-bird. FAMILY CYrSELID^E. Chaitura Pelasgia. Chimney Swallow. FAMILY C.iPEIMULGIDJi. Antrostomus Vociferus. Whippoorwill. Chordeiles Popetue Night Hawk. FAJMILY ALCEDINID^E. Ceryle Alcyon. Belted Kingfisher. FAMILY TYKANNIN^. Tyrannus Carolinensis. King-bird. JMyiarchus Crinitus. Great Crested Flycatcher. Sayornis Fuscus. Pewee. Contopus Yirens. Wood i'ewee. Empidonax Acadicus. Crested Flycatcher. FAMILY TURDID.E. Turdu.^ Mustelinus. Wood Thrush. Turdus Pallasii. Hermit Thrush. Turdus Fuscescens. Wilson's Thrush. 4?5 Turdus AlicjB. Grey-cheeked Thrush. V Turdus Migratorius. Rubin. Sialia Sialis. Blue-bird. Regulus Calendula, Ruby-crowned Wren. Regulus Satrapa. Golden-crowned Wren. FAMILY SYLVICOLID^, Anthus Ludovicianus. Tit Lark. Mniotilta Yaria. P>lack and White Creeper. Parula Americana. Blue Yellow-l)acked Warbler. Protonotaria Citrea. Prothonotarv AVarbler. 80 Geotlilypis Triclias. Maryland Yellowtliroat. Geothlypis Fhiladelpliia. Mo'.irning Warbler. Uporornis A<::ilis. Connecticut Warbler. Oporornis Forinosus. Kentucky Warbler. Icteria Viridis. YelloAV-breasted Chat. Helmitherus Vermivorus. Worm-eatiuij; Warbler. Helminthophaga Pinus. Blue-winged Yellow Warblei. Helminthopbaga Chrysoptera. Golden-winged Warbler, llelminthopliaga liuticapilla. Xashville Warbler. Helminthophaga Celata. Orange-crowned Warbler. Helminthophaga Peregrina. Tennessee Warbler. Seiurus Aurocapillus. Golden-crowned Thrush. Seiurus Noveboracensis. Water Thrubh. Dendroica Virens. Black-throated Green Warbler. Dendroica Canadensis. Black-throated Blue Warbler. Dendroica Coronata. Yellow-rump AVarbler. Dendroica Blackburniee. Blackburnian AYarbler. Dendroica Castanea. Bay-breasted Warbler. Dendroica Pinus. Pinecreeping Warbler. Dendroica Pennsylvanica. Chestnut-sided Warbler. -^Dendroica Coirulo. Blue Warbler. Dendroica Striata. Black-poll Warbler. Dendroica Aestiva. Yellow Warbler. Dendroica Maculosa. Black and Yellow Warbler. Dendroica Palmarnm. Yellow Ped-poll Warbler. Dendroica Superciliosa. Yellow-throated Warbler. Dendroica Discolor. Prairie Warbler. Myiodioctes Mitratus. Hooded Warbler. ^ Myiodioctes Pusillus. Myiodioctes Canadensiv=. Canada Flycatcher. Setophaga Puticilla. American Kedstart. Pyranga Pubra. Scarlet Tanager. Pyranga Aestiva. Summer Ped-bird. FA3IILY HIEUNDINID^. Hirundo Horreorum. Barn Swallow. Hirundo Lunifrons. Cliff Swallow. Hirundo Bicolor. White-bellied Swallow. Cotyle Piparia. Bank Swallow^ Progne Purpurea. Purple INIartin. FAMILY BOMBYCILLID^. Ampelis Garrulus. Bohemian Waxwing. Ampelis Cedrorum. Cedar-bird. FAailLY LANIID.E. Collyrio Borealis. Butcher-bird. . ^^^ -Oollyrio Ludovicianus. Loggerhead Shrike. 81 Collyrio Excabitoroides. White-rumped Shrike. Vireo Olivaceous. Red-eyed Flycatcher. Yireo Phihidelpliiens. Vireo Gilvns. Warl)lin^lis. Chipping Sparrow. Spizella Pusilla. Field Sparrow. Spizella Pallida, Clay-colored Bunting. Melospiza Melodia. Song Sparrow. Melospiza Palustris. Swamp Sparrow. Passerella Iliaca. Fox-colored Sparrow. Euspiza Americana. Black-throated Bunting. Guiraca Ludoviciana, Kose-breasted Grosbeak. Cyanospiza Cyanea. Indigo-bird. Cardinalis Virginianus. Cardinal Ked-bird. Pipilo Erythroplithalmus, Cheewink. F^UIILY ICTERIDJi:. ■^ Dolichonyx Oryzivorus. Bobo'iink. Molothrus Pecoris. Cow-bird. Aeselaius Phceniceus. Red-wincjed Black-bird. Zauthocephalus Icterocephalus. Yellow-headed Black-bird. Sturnella Magna. Meadow Lark. Icterus Spurius. Orchard Oriole. Icterus Baltimore, Golden Oriole. Scolecophagas Ferruginous. Rusty Grakle. Quiscalus Versicolor. Purple Grakle. FAMILY CORVID.E, Corvus Carnivorus, American Raven, Corvus Americanus. Common Crow. Pica Hudsonica. Magpie, Cyanurus Cristatus, Blue Jay. ORDER R A SORES. FAJSIILY COLUMBID^. Ectopistes Migratoria. Wild Pigeon, Zenaidura Caroliuensis. Common Dove. FAMILY VHASIANID^, Meleagris Gallopavo. Wild Turkey. FAMILY TETKAONID^. Pedioceetes Phasiauellus. Sharp-tailed Grouse. Cupidonia Cupido. Prairie Hen. Bonasa Umbellus. Rutted Grouse. Lagopus Albus. Willow Grouse. FAMILY PEKDICID^. Ortyx Yirginianus, Quail. 83 R D E U G R A r. L A T R E S . F^UIILY GKUID^E. Grns Americaniis. "Whoopint^ Crane. Grus Canadensis. Sand-hill Crane. FAMILY ARDEIDJ2. Garzetta Candidissima. Snowy Pleron. Herodias Egretta. AVliite Heron. Ardea Herodias. Great Blue Heron. Ardetta Exilis. Least Bittern. Botaurns Lentiginosus. Bittern. Butorides Yirescens. Green Heron. Njctiardea Gardeni. Night Heron. FAMILY TANTALID^. Tantalus Loculator. "Wood Ibis. Ibis Ordii. Glossy Ibis. FAMILY CHAEADRID^. Charadrius Yirginicus. Golden Plover. Aegialitis Yociferus. Killdeer Plover. Aegialitis Semipalmatus. King Plover. Strepsilas Interpres. Turnstone. Squatarola Helvetica. Black-bellied Plover. FAMILY PHALAROPODID^E. Phalaropus Wilsonii. Wilson's Phalarope. Phalaropus Fulicarius. Red Phalarope. FAMILY SCOLOPACID^. Philohela Minor, "Woodcock. Gallinago "Wilsonii. English Snipe. Macrorhamphus Griseus. Red-breasted Snipe. Tringa Maculata. Jack Snipe. Tringa "Wilsonii. Least Sandpiper. Ereunetes Petrificatus. Semi pal mated Sandpiper. Symphemia Semipalmata. "Willct. Gambetta Melanoleuca. Telltale Snipe. Gambetta Flavipes. Yellow Legs. Rhyacophilns Solitarius. Solitary Sandpiper. Tringoides Macularius. Spotted Sandpiper, ic- Actiturus Bartramins. Bartram's Sandpiper. Limosa Fedoa. Marbled Godwit. Kumenius Longirostris. Long-billed Curlew. 84 Numeniiis Hudsonicus. Short-billed Curlew. Kallus Crepitans. Clapper liail. Kallus Virginianus. Yiro^inia Rail. Porzana Carolina. Sora liail. Porzana Noveboracensis. Yellow Rail. Fulica Americana. Coot. Gallinula Galeata. Florida Gallinule. ORDER NATATORES, FAMILY CYGNESTiE. Cygnus Americanus. American Swan. Cjgnus Buccinator. Trumpeter Swan. FAMILY ANSERINE. Anser Hyperboreus. Snow Goose. Anser Gambellii. White-fronted Goose. Bernicla Canadensis. Canada Goose. Bernicla Ilutchinsii. Hutchiu's Goose. Bernicla Breuta. Brant. FAMILY ANATIN^, Anas Boschas. Mallard. Anas Obscura. Black Duck. Dafila Acuta. Pintail Duck. Nettion Carolinensis. Green-Avinged Teal. Querquedula Discors. Blue-winged Teal. Spatula Cljpeata. Shoveller. Chaulelasmus Streperus. Gadwall. Mareca Americana. American Widgeon. Aix Sponsa. Summer Duck. Fulix Marila. Scaup Duck. Fulix CoUaris. Ring-necked Duck. Aythya Americana. Red-head Duck. Aythya Yallisneria. Canvass-back Duck. Bucephla Americana. Golden-eyed Duck. Bucephla Albeola. Butter Ball. Harelda Glacialis. Long-tailed Duck. Mergus Americanus. Goosander. Mergus Serl-ator. Red-breasted Merganser. Lophodytes Cucculatus. Hooded Merganser. FAMILY LAKID^. Larus Argentatus. Herring Gull. Croicocephalus Philadelphia. Bonaparte's Gull. 85 FAMILY STEKNINvE. Sterna Regia. Royal Tern. Sterna Wilsonii. "NVilson's Tern. Sterna Frenata. Least Tern. Hydrocbelidon Plunibea. Short-tailed Tern. FAMILY TELECANID^. Pelecaniis Erjthrorhynchus. Rough-billed Pelican. FAMILY PHALACROCORACIDiE. Graculus Carbo. Cormorant. Graculus Dilophns. Double-crested Cormorant. FAMILY PLOTID^. Plotus Anhinga. Water Turkey. FAMILY COLYMBIDvE. Colymbus Torquatns. The Loon. Colymbus Septentrionalis. Red-throated Diver. Podiceps Cristatus. Crested Grebe. Podiceps Cornutus. Horned Grebe. X^^^ Podilymbus Podiceps. Pied- bill Grebe. NATURAL HISTORY IN SCHOOLS. Read before the Illinois State Teachers' Association, at Quincy, Dec. 26, 18'> By A. M. Gow, of Dixon, Illinois. 21 1\ President and Fellow -Teachers : It not iint'requentlj happens that the presentation of a claim npon the attention of educators for any particular branch ot sci- ence is accompanied by the demand that it shall be introduced, at once, into our schools as a subject of general school training. Each enthusiast in any department of knowledge, feeling the exhilara- ting influence of his study upon his own mind, may be somewhat excusable when he presents a claim npon the attention of those en- gaged in the work of forming the popular mind, and insists that his darling ])ursuit may be made prominent in their systems of in- struction. It is diflicult sometimes, in the multiplicity of the sub- jects of science, to determine which shall be deemed most worthy of a place in the necessarily limited course of study in a large por- tion of the schools, and to arrange the branches selected in that or- der which will best serve the purposes of a real education. The essentially material teacher is best pleased with those studies which point ultimately to practical employment and the acquisition of wealth, while he of more refined taste seeks those which have for their object the cultivation of the nobler parts of our nature. The happy mean in the process of education lies between these ex- tremes, and he is most fortunate who can properly discriminate be- t\veen that which may be made immediately and practically pro- ductive, and that which develops the mind by quickening the per- ceptions, strengthening the power of reason, stimulating the moral faculties, by proper culture, and giving to the judgment that force which the well educated alone possess. Remarks Horace ]\Iann, in his admirable lectures : ''I hardly need to say that by the word. education I mean much more than ability to read, write and keep common accounts ; I comprehend under this noble word such a 88 training of the body as shall build it up with robustness and vigor — at once protecting it from disease and enabling it to ncX^ for') native- ly^ upon the crude substances of nature — to turn a wilderness into cultivated tields, forests into ships, or quarries and clay i)its into villages and cities; I mean, also to include such a cultivation ot the intellect as shall enable it to discover those permanent and mighty laws which pervade all parts of the created univei'se, whether nia- terial or spiritual. This is necessary, because, if we act in obe- dience to these laws, all the resistless forces of Nature become our auxiliaries and cheer us on to certain prosperity and triumph ; but if we act in contravention or defiance of these laws, then Nature re- sists, thwarts, baffles us, and in the end, it is just as certain that she will overwhelm us with ruin as it is that God is stronger than man. And, finallj^, I mean such a culture of our moral affections and re- ligious susceptibilities as, in the course of Nature and Providence, shall lead to a subjection or conformity of all our appetites, propen- sities and sentiments to the will of Heaven." AVe accept the definition of Education given us by th'.s one of its most devoted friends and promoter.^, and in presenting the claims of Natural History, we do not wish to be considered as intruding our hobby on your attention or as desiring to ride it to the disad- vantage of any other of the branches of science. Nor need the timid fear that we would add another text book or series to those already in our schools, or make any demand upon teachers the}'' are not fully capable of meeting. The perceptive powers of children are kept in constant exercise by their innate desire to learn. Every sense is alert to seize upon surrounding objects. Nothing escapes their attention, and each new object of observation serves as a stimulant to further inquiry and acquirement. Nature teaches wonderfully, and the elements for instruction are all around and about us, needing only to be ap- propriated and enjoyed. Children, actuated only by this craving curiosity, are constantly acquiring facts for future use. Ask a mother how it is that her child learns so much durino; the first few years of its existence, and she may reply that she has been its only teacher; but some reflection may convince her that she had little to do directly, in imparting the instruction it has received. Her teachings, for the greater part, were not intended as instruction, but the child did not the less acquire knowledge from her by every act and word. All his faculties were keenly alive to what was passing around. The mother, for the most part, was no more the intentional instructor than the chairs, the table, or the cat upon the hearth. By observing the operations of nature, we may ascertain that the true development of children is hastened by simply furnishing the ol)jects for the exercise of their continually expanding powers. The normal system of instruction claims to be the natural system, since the efibrt is made to imitate nature, in presenting natural ob- jects to the minds of children, thereby stimulating the desire to S9 learn, quickening the perceptions, cultivating habits of observation, of comparing and classifying, and thereby of reasoning well and judging accurately. "xV child must not only be exercised into correctness of obser- vation, comparison and judgment," says Mr. Mann, ''but into ac- curacy in the narration or description of what he has seen, heard, thouii'ht or felt, so that whatever thoughts, emotions, memories are within him, he can present them all to others in exact and lumin- ous words." Clearness of conception and accuracy in description are essentially important in correct education, as he is only half trained who sees imperfectly or describes inaccurately. An anecdote is related of the poet Coleridge, illustrating the value of a knowledo-e of common thino-s. On one occasion, travel- ing with a brother poet, he arrived at a cou.ntry inn. Stopping to dine, they entered the house, while the host busied himself in ta- king care of the horse. Before the guests were ready to depart, the host was obliged to go to the held to his labor. When they concluded to go, the}^ repaired to the stable, and connnenced the operation of harnessing the horse, when an embarrassing dilemma Avas presented in the dithculty of adjusting the collar to their horse's neck. They examined the cohar and they scrutinized the animaPs head, but, with all their observation, the difficulty of accommodating the one to the other seemed insurmountable. After much consultation and many unsuccessful elibrts, made both to the discomfort of the poor animal and themselves, they' were forced to ask advice from the servant-maid, w^ho was enjoying their ignorance and confusion. She willingly responded, and taking the collar, broad end up, slip- ped it easily over the animal's eyes, turned it narrow end np on the neck, and litted it to the shonldeas, much to their surprise and re- lief. , The moral of our story is, that a knowledge of common things is not to be despised, and that, other things being equal, he is the best educated who has made the most use of his powers in the acquisition of the facts and principles involved in every-day life. Children "have an innate love for whatever is beautiful. Por- tions of the extei'nal world have been exquisitely adapted to this inborn love of the beautiful, by Ilim who has so clothed the lilies of the field that tlie}^ outshine Solomon in all his glory." Happy is that child who is free to roam in unrestrained and unconvention- al liberty, to enjoy what nature so liberally and so freely bestows. Happy is that man whose early desires have not been i-epressed, but have been permitted to strengthen to the improvement of his tastes and the cultivation of his fancy. Taking the definition of education as given by Mr. Mann to be correct, and the principles of instruction we have alluded to as ju- dicious and safe, it may be assumed that there is no better subject for training the intellect, developing the bodil}'' powers, and awakening the moral faculties, than that contained in the several divisions (if Natural Histoi-y, embracing Zoology, Botany and Ge- -10 " " / 90 ology. And not only are these studies liiirlily important, consider- ed merely as siil)jects of educational disci])line, but they are highly useful, in that purely i)ractical and American Sense which estimates Avorth by pecuniary vahie. The Kormal system of instruction is not only titled for the development of little children, but for those of mature age. If a child is surrounded by objects of interest and beauty, and is permitted to learn l)y the excitement of his curiosity and by a ])roper direction of his ]jowers, his intellect must expand in proportion as his mind is awakened by desire. Such objects are all around us in bounteous profusion. Neglect, however, these means of natural development, and you may reduce and restrain the love of the beautiful and the desire of accpiisition, until the child, like a Chinese oak, possessing a rcseml)lance to the original design of Nature, becomes, by peculiar and unnatural cultivation — a dwarf. We remember a little incident. A short tinie since two individu- als were walking over the prairie, wdien one observed a stone. See- ing something peculiar in it, he stooped to pick it up, and found, to his surprise, a beautiful fossil coral. Turning to his companion, lie exhibited the curiosity, who, without appearing to notice or care for its singularity, remarked, with indiffere'.ce, "pshaw ! it's nothing but a stun." "Stuns" were a subject of supreme contempt to one whose whole being was sacrificed to the false idea of utility. It is a most desirable object to train minds to habits of observa- tion, so that wdien any new subject is presented to the eye, or any unnsual somid strikes npon the ear, it may make -a durable im- pression. Some of the most valuable discoveries, affecting hu- man health, happiness and convenience, were simply the result of an observation of simple and apparently unimportant circumstan- ces, stimulating thought, producing reflection and in the end accom- plishing the desired object. "Natural History," says Ruschenber- ger, "embraces every object in nature, organic and inorganic. The animal kingdom contains about two hundred and fifty thousand species, and the vegetable kingdom about eighty -five thousand spe- cies, making an aggregate of three hundred and thirty-five thou- sand organized objects for the study of the Naturalist. Bt^sides . these, rocks and minerals of every kind are to be added, which would probably swell the number to nearly four hundred thou- sand." The object of Natural History is to classify, systematize and study these creations, to discover their uses in the economy of nature, their relations to each other, and the value which they hold to the comfort and well-being of mankind. Here then is a grand field for the student, much of wdiich is comparatively new and un- explored., all opening to him the finest opportunities for the culti- vation and development of his intellectual powers. But it is not supposed that our people generally, educated in our ordinary schools, will or can become Naturalists, any more than they can be called Mathematicians because they study Algebra. To be a Naturalist requires the tiine and study of a life devoted with unre- mitting zeal and unflagging energy ; but to be acquainted with the 91 general principles of classification, to be able to read intelligently, and to hear with pleasure and profit when subjects of this kind are introduced, is certainly desirable to any well educated man or wo- man. The wisest of men enti'cated God that he should be gifted with prudence and understanding to govern his people. In addi- tion to this, the subject of his petition, God granted him all that the most ambitious could desire, so that he became a Poet, a Phi- losopher and a Xaturalist. "lie spake three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that spriugeth out of the wall ; he sj»ake also of beasts, also of fowl, and of creeping things and of fishes.^' These were subjects worthy of the wisdom of Solomon, and yet they are esteemed unworthy, by some, ofa])lace in our best endowed and most popular institutions, so tluit many an Alumnus leaves the halls of his Alma Mater tolera- bly versed in Ancient Classics and Mathematics, and entirely igno- rant of the names, habits or value of the thousands of natural ob- jects around him and under his feet. We would not be understood to depreciate or undervalue the stud_y of the Classics, but we sub- mit whether in this country, under our circumstances, it might not be as well to divide the attention between the Greek roots and those which, fresli and strong, bury themselves in our prairie soil — the roots of our trees and plants. The utility of Natural History or its applicability to promote the material wealth of the State cannot be doubted. It was a great mistake to suppose the subjects of Zoology, Botany and Ge- ology did not involve much that affects our comfort, convenience, health and wealth. I rememl)er having planted a beautiful tree. It was nourished with care and became one of our garden pets. It M'as admired for its symmetry and beauty by all who beheld it. In course of time the garden and its appiu'tenances passed into other hands. What was before a beautiful retreat, was now to be turned to the making of money. Tenant houses were erected and the garden, neglected and exposed, was soon destroyed. Still the beautiful tree remained, a solitary monument to mark the spot where culture had been bestowed. But vandalism had not completed its work ; the mechanic who was about to raise another sti'ucture, and loth to destroy a tree whose beauty charmed him, called the own- er of the property to know whether he should cut down the tree or prune it closely on one side, to enable him to raise his frame. After a brief examination, the owner remarked, with an oath, "Cut it dowm, cut it down, trees don't make money." That man's idea was, that money was wealth, and in getting money he worked hai'd, lived meanly and died early. It was not in the same spirit that tlie sentiment was uttered, that "he was a public benefactor who made two blades of o-rass "-row where one ut no one need come who is not willing to take care of it fur months, and wait pa- tiently for its flowers." "I fear," said the teacher, "that they will be troublesome in go- ing to yonr honse." "Oh^ no ; I presume of the thousands here, not more than a hun- dred will come." "In this he was mistaken ; for before four o'clock the streets be- gan to fill with children. They soon filled the steps of Mr. Pardee's house, as well as those of his neighbors, and the sidewalks were lined with amateur florists. For two hours he labored as fast as possible to supply their little hands — the girls first, the boys, at his suggestion, generously giving way and quietly waiting their turn, until, instead of the anticipated one hundred, he furnished a nia- jorit}^ of the whole school. For two hours, the street was a scene of great interest. Passers by stopped to gaze and wonder, and in- quire what it all meant. The windows and doors of neighboring liouses all exhibited curious faces and eyes gleaming with pleasure at such an unwonted scene in that quiet locality. Already had the flowers blossomed and borne fruit in the hearts of the children." The intellectual, the moral, and the physical well-being of the school may be promoted by their planting one of each of the indi- genous trees of the district in the schoohouse yard, and by observ- ing their likenesses and their dissimilarities. Besides the practical lesson taught in the planting of a tree, which every person, espe- cially in itlinois, should understand and practice, there is a moral influence imparted which cannot be calculated. Those wlio invest interest and labor in j^lanting a tree or shrub will likely attach some value to the object by that act. If one is interested in trees of his own planting, and appreciates their value, he will likely take care of those in which the community have an interest. Every school might have a little cabinet containing many of the curiosi- ties of thedistrict. Fossils, minerals, botanical preservations, In- dian relics, and anything curious might be collected, which, although not scientifically named and arranged, M'ould do good. To those who may desire to turn their attention these interesting branches of study and yet not know wh«re to get the desired books, 05 Ave v/oiild recommend Dr. Eusclienberger's Natural History, (two volumee,) embracing the elements of Anatomy and Physiology, Mammalogy, Oi'iiitliology, Ilerpitology, Ichthyology, Conchology Entomology, Jjotany and Geo ogy. To those who might desire more extended works, " Yanderhceven's iland-book of Zoojoirv," (two volumes,) is recommended ; in Botany, "Gray's First Lessons and Manual;" Geology, '* Lyeirs Principles and Manual," also, "Emmons' Manual;" "Outlines of Comparative Physiology," Airassz (k Gould; in ]\Iinerah>n;v Dana's. One of the chief designs of this paper is to direct the attention of the mend)ers of the State Teachers' Association to the fact of the existence of the Illinois State Natural History Society, A brief history of its fornuition may not be without interest. At the meeting ;er of a wise Creator in the wonderful plans of his handiwork in even so small a thing as an insect. If a loathsome crawling reptile were to descend into the earth aud there, for a time, remain buried in a death-like sleep, coiled in a made cell or a cast off skin, and then come forth a beautiful bird, decorated with all the colors of the rainbow, we would look upon the changed animal with wonder and amazement. Yet to see a worm trans- formed into a brilliant beetle or gay butterfly excites no amaze- ment; first, because it is a common occurrence, and, secondly, be- cause of its small size. Is not the manifestation of power and wisdom as great in the one case as it would be in the other? In these changes is exhibited to us a type of the various changes through which all animals pass, even up to man himself. The great animal kingdom, as before stated, is divided into dif- ferent vast groups, each having a distinct and somewhat diffei'ent series of changes or metamorphoses through which they pass. Yet that all do pass through some such series of changes can no lono;er be doubted. And it is in connection with this fact we find any reasonable explanation for neuters among insects, and of the means bees adopt to supply a new queen. In speaking of or describing insects, when no reference is made to a given period of their existence, the perfect insect is intended. In describing insects it is necessary to make use of some terms nut used in ordinary language ; therefore, I will give a short expla- nation of some few of these terms, not that I expect to use them, but as a means of reference. The bodies of perfect insects are con- sidered to be divided into three yjarts ; first, the head ; second, the thorax, which is the portion to which the legs and wings are attach- ed, and is situated between the head and the abdomen ; third, the abdomen, the hinder part of the insect, and is generally divided into sesrments or rino-s. From the front of the head arise twoslen- der, thread-like, jointed appendages, varying in the different fami- lies and genera ; these are called antennas. From the mouth of such as have horny jaws (mandibles) arise sometimes four and sometimes six slender jointed appendages, generally much shorter than the antennas, and generally composed of three or four joints ; these are called jyaljpi. The under side of the thorax is called the ])ectu8 or sternum. The triangular piece between the base of the wings, or wing-covers, is q.v^q.(). scutellmn ovscutel. The horny wing-covers of beetles and bugs, and leathery wing-covers of grasshoppers are called elytra. The upper side of the abdomen, tergum ; the nnderside,'ye?i^6/' — its base is the part that joins the thorax ; the apex, the latter end. The legs and feet, taken to- gether, are often q,2!S\.q,(S. feet ; femur ox femora are thigh or thighs; —12 106 tibicv, shan'ks ; tarsi, toes. The horny jaws are called ma7idihles. The long snout, with which some insect^ are furnished, is called roxtrum. The iirst or basal joints of the antenna} or rostrum are those next the head. In connection with the fyregoing remarks, I herewith present a list of Illinois Coleoptera, together with a few remarks upon the order and families. I would be glad to descend more into particu- lars, and describe and give the history of sonie of the most impor- tant and obnoxious species, but space and time will not permit it. COLEOPTERA. This order is usually placed at the head of the list by systema- tists, though not always. It contains a larger number of species, and has received more attention than any other order of insects. The word Coleoj^tera signilies wings in a sheath ; and the name has been applied on account of the hard, horny wing-covers with which the species are furnished. The common name, beetle, is ap- plied to exactly the same insects. The characters of the order may be stated, in short, thus : "Insects with jaws moving sideways, two thick, horny wing- covers (elytra) meeting in a straight line on the top of the back, and two filmy wings, which, when at rest, are folded transversely under the wing-covers. The larvae are called grubs, generally provided with six true legs, and sometimes also with a terminal proleg. Such species as undergo their transformations in mits, fruits, and in timber, are often destitute of legs. The. pupae are in- active." riEST fa:siily — cicindelid^. This family includes those active ferocious beetles, that we fre- quently see flying and lighting before us in the road, when the sun is hot ; as we approach, they again take flight and drop down a few steps in advance, generally with their heads turned toward us. They have long legs, and run with great rapidity. The species found here are of medium size, one-third to three-fourths of an inch long, mostly with bright colors, generally green or bronzed, with white spots or marks. They have received the name of tiger-beetles, from their bright colors and ferocious habits. A bright green species, with six white dots on the elytra, is thought, by many, to be a "blister-fly." As all the species of this family, both in the larva and perfect state, live on other insects, of course they are beneficial to us, and not injurious. Mcgacephalii — Virginica. Cicindela — generosa, purpurea^ formosa, lembalis, sexguttata, modesta, repanda, hiiti- coUes, cuprascens, duodecemguttata, vulgaiis, lepida, punctulati, lecontei. 107 -CAKABIDiE. This is the most numerous family of the order, embracing a great many genera, often very ditiicult to distinguish. In fact, a great many unnecessary genera have been formed, which has only added confusion to this troublesome family. This family includes the predaceous ground beetles, found under shocks of wheat and corn, under logs, rails, etc. Those black and dark brown beetles, seen running rapidly away wdien we turn over a log, plank or rail, in the field or at the roadside — those that fly in at the window of a night, when the air feels damp, and drop about the floor and on the table, etc., and as soon as they light commence running hither and yon- der — mostly belong to this family. They are generally of a dark color, though several species are of a brilliant metallic luster, most- ly green or bronze. The elytra, or wing-eases, are mostly longitu- dinally striated. Notwithstanding these insects are often found in situations that cause them to be suspected of mischief, yet they are our friends, and are there only for the purpose of destroying other insects, on which they prey. The Illinois species, so far as determined, are as follows : Casnonia — Pensvlvanica. Badister — pulcbellus. Septotraclalus — dorsalis. Patrolnis — Ionjj,icomi3. Galerita — janus. CaJathus — gregarius. Zuphium — Americanum. Pristodactyla — iiupunctata. Cymindis — pilosa, lirabata. riatvnus — augvistatus, ruficoriiis, sinuatus. Calleida — decora, punctata. Anclioinenus — sinuatus, cincticollcs, ex- Dromius — piceuis. tensicollis, viridis, decorus. Apristus — Americanus. Agonuin — 8-punctatiim, cupripenne, exca- Lebia — atrivcntrif;, pleuritica, viridipcn- vatuni, nutans, aruginosum, Harrisii, nis, furcata, pulchella, ornata, axillaris, placidum, nigriccps, luctuosum, puncti- scapularis, viridis, pumila, niocsta. forme, anchomenoides. Brachinus — fnmans, librator. Anchonoderus — pusellus. Scarites — subterraneus, quadriceps. Poeeilus — ehalcites, lueublaudus, frater- Pasimaclms — elongatus. nus. Clivina — bipustulata, Americana, eordata. Loxandrus — erratecus. Sehizogeuius — lineolatus. Feronia — erythropus, niutus, luczotii, cau- Dyschirius — spliajricollis, globulosus, acne- dicalis, luctuosus, niandibularis, niouedu- olus. la, Haldorniani, scrutator, orbatus, sty- Scaphinotus — elevatus. gicus. Spliacsroderus — stonostoraus. Percosia — obesa. Carabus — serratus, vinctus, silvosus, lapi- Aniara — inipuncticollis, rubrica, nmsculus. layi. Triama — angustata. Calosoma — scrutator, Wilcoxi, frigidum, Bradytus — exaratus, avidus. sayi, calidura, externum. Geopinus--incrassatus. Omophron — tcssellatum, Americanum. Cratacantlius — dubius. Blethisa — f]uadricolIis. Agonodorus — lincola, pallipes, dorsalis. Elaphrus — rusearius, clairvillei. Aniphasia — feriiioratus, interstitialis. Panagaeus — fasciatus. Spongopus — verticalis. Chl;eniu3 — erythropus I'ufipes, lithophilus, Anisodactylus — discoidens,BaItimoriensus, sericeus, asstivus, Peusylvanicus, vicinus, nigrita, rusticus, carbonarius, nigerri- tj'icolor, impunctifrons, eraarginatus, to- nuis, tristis. mentosus, uiger, pusillus. Eurytrieluis — tcrminatus, (testaceus?) Oodes- -Americanus, parallellus. Salenophorus — iripcnnis. Diplocheila — major, laticollis, obtusus, bre- Paagus — caligiuosus, lugubris. vicollis. Harpalus — Pensylvanicus, (bicolor?) com- Dicaelus — purpuratus, violaceus, sculptiles, par, faunus, vulpeculus, herbivagus, ery- dejeanii, elongatus. thropua. 108 Stenoloplms — ochropezus, conjunctus. Ochthedromus — nitidulus, Americanus, sa- Bradicollus — autuuinalis. Icbratus, dorsalis, patruelis, versicolor, Acupalpus — huiiiilis. quadriraaculatus, affinis, (fallax ?) luci- Bembiclium — impreBsum, inaequalc, prludo- dus. sum. Tacbys — inornatus, flavicandus. DYTISCID^. This entire family consists of water insects — those species inhab- iting stagnant waters. Their posterior legs are formed into a kind of fringed paddles or oars, which enable them to swim with great rapidity, using them in the same manner that the frog uses its hind legs. They are very voracious, devouring other insects, and even attacking young fish. They are also furnished with wings, and may frequently, especially after night, be seen flying about candles and fires. The following Illinois species have been identified : Dytiscus — Harrissii, fasciventris, verticalis, Coptotomus — interrogatus. hybridus. Copelatus — glyphicus. Cybistcr — fimbriolatus. Laccophilus — maculosus. Acilius — fraternus. Hydrocanthus — iricolor. Coljnnbetes — sculptilis. Hydroporus — undulatus, Americanus. Ilybius — fenestralis, pleuriticus. Haliplus — immacubitieollis. Agabas — ambiguus. Cnemidotus — duodecimpunctatus. Matus — bicarinatns. GYRINID^. This family also consists of insects that inhabit the water. They are generally to be seen on standing or gently running water, col- lected in groups, often in great numbers. They are active, whirl- ing round in circles, from which circumstance they are called "whirlwigs." When handled they emit a disagreeable odor. These insects live on small dead insects found floating on the surface of the water — at least Westwood so informs us. Our species are few, and so far have not been examined and de- termined by our Entomologists. I can give but one species about which I have no doubt. Diaeutes — labratus. Gyrinus — [Of this we have some species ; probably borealis and Iwibatus ?] PARNIDiE. This is a small family of minute sub-aquatic insects, inhabiting the borders of ponds, ditches, etc. It is supposed by Latreille that they live on animal matter. Illinois species : Elmis — 4-notatus. Macronychus — glabratus, lateralis. 109 HTDROPHILID^. The insects belonging to this family are also water insects, re- maining during the day in the water, and coming forth in the eve- ning, take wing. Their feet are also furnished with hairy fringes, which they use as paddles to assist in swimming. Our known Illinois species are : Helophorus — lineatus. Hydrobius — globosus. Hydrochus — scabratus. Philhydrus — cinctus, bifidu?. Hydrophilus — triangularis, ovalis. Cyclonotum — subcupieum. Hydrocharis — obtusatus, glaber. Also some species of sphajridium and cercy- Berosus — striatus. on not determined. PHALACEIDiE AND ANISOTOMIDiE. These are two small unimportant families, closely connected with the genus Spteridium, beforenamed, which latter is not aquatic. The only species known to inhabit Illinois, are : Plialacrus — pencillatus. Agathidium — piceum ? Leiodes — discolor, [probably.] SCAPHIDIIDiE. A family of small insects, residing in agarics, fungi, and under the bark of rotten trees. Ilhnois species : Scaphidium — 4-guttatum, piceum. SILPHID^E. These insects render us great servnice, in removing from the sur- face of the earth dead animal matter, which is their chief food. They may be distinguished by the tliree or four jointed club at the end of their antennae. They are accompanied by a nauseous odor. Our ypecies are as follows : Necrophorus — americanus, orbicollis, mar- Thanatophilus — candatus. ginatus, velutenus, pustulatus. Necrophila — americana. Necrodes — surinamensis. Silpha — ■inaequalis, peltata, marginalia. Oiceoptoma — marginata. NITIDULID^. This family, as extended by the Melsheimer Catalogue, includes a variety of insects, somewhat dift'ering from each other in their habits; and some of the genera appear to be very near the Curciv- lionidce in structure and habits. Some of the species are found among bones and animal remains ; some beneath the bark of trees ; some on flowers, and various other places. Some species are thought to be injurious to plants, by puncturing the flowers, and injuring the fruit, such as the blackberry, raspberry, etc. But, as the family appears to be in considerable confusion, we can lay down no particular characteristics or habits. Illinois species: Cercus — abdominalis. Cryptarcha — ampla. Nitidula — bipustulata. Ziczac. Ips — fasciatus, 4-signatus, sanguinolentas. Prometopia — 6-maculata. Rhizophagus — nanus. Omosita — colon. Trogosita — castanea, subnigra, dubia. Phenolia — grossa. 110 COLTDIID^. Small insects residino; mostly inider tlie bark of trees. The two species determined as Illinois species, are : Ditoma — quadriguttata. Colydiuni — longiusculum. CUCUJID.E. Also a family of small insects, closely allied to the foregoing; mostly of an oblong, depressed form. Catogenus — rufus. Brontes — dubius. Cuciijus — clavipos. Telephanus — velox. Laemophlojus — biguttatus. Silvanus — dentatus, planatus, surinamensis. CR YPTOPH AGID^ . Also small insects, generally inhabiting boleti, fnngi and similar vegetable snbstances. Some of the species are very minute. Cryptophagus — celaris, gilvellus. Atouiaria — atra? LATHRIDIID.E. Corticaria — denticulata, americana. Lathridius — musa3orum. EROTTLIDJE, Engls — 4-inaculata. Triplax — dimidiata, humeralis. Dacnc — faseiata, hcros. Languria — bicolor, ilozardi, puncticoUis, Ischyrus — i-punctatus. tiifasciata. MTCETOPH AGID^ . Mycetophagus — flexuosus. The three foregoing families consist, mostly, of very small in- sects, and are closely allied in habits, some residing in boleti, fun- gi, and decaying vegetable substances; others, beneath the bark of dead or decaying trees; others, as species of Lathridius, are said to devour the corks of wine and other bottles, thus becoming in- jurious. DERMESTID.E. With this family we enter upon the list of injurious insects. The species are not large, yet much too well known for our good. It includes those species that feed on dry hides, skins, furs, feath- ers, bacon and other dried meats. It is the larvse of some of the species included in this family that cut to pieces and destroy our ladies' furs; of others, that so often damage the hides and skins stored up by our traders. In fact, scarcely anything escapes their attack. Our collections of birds, insects, and other animals, are often ruined by these voracious pests. Books and papers are also often seriously injured by them. Illinois species : Dermestes — lardarius, marmoratus, cani- Attageiius — pellio, ornatus. nus, vulpinus. Anthrenus — cajtaneae Ill BYKKHID.^. Small insects with "sliort oval or rounded, very convex" bodies, "generally covered with short sericeous pile." Found on the ground, in sandy places and foot paths. Our species: Bvrrbus — varius, americanus. TIIROSCIDJE. Of this family I know nothing. The genus Throscus is said to be allied to the Elateridoe or snapping-jacks. Our single known species is : Throscus — constrictor. HYSTERID-E. This family is composed of species easily distinguished by their form, which is that of a i)arallelogram, with slightly rounded cor- ners. The body is very fat, highly polished, and very hard, so much so that it is with difficulty a pin can be made to penetrate it. They reside in the dung of horses and com'S and under the Ijark of damp decaying or dead trees. Their color is mostly jet black, occa- sionally having a red spot or spots on the elytra. The species are all small, seldom exceeding the fourth of an inch in length. The lar- vae of llister intemqHus is at least ten times the size of the per- fect insect. Illinois species: Epicrus — minor. Platysoma — LeContii. Hister — arcuatus, abbreviatu?, interruptus, Hololcpta — aequalis. americanu.-:, tjimaculatas. Saprinui — pensylvauicus, assimili=. Paromalus — bistriatus. LA.MELLICORNIA. This family, as given in the Melsheimer Catalogue, is a very unwieldy affair, though well marked by its distinguishing char- acter, which is given as follows : Antennae generally short, r.ine or ten jointed, and terminated by a large club, coin])osed of sev- eral — generally three — of the terminal joints formed into long plates, which open like the leaves of a book. Many Entomologists have divided this group into several families, and as there are quite a number of genera varying much in habit I shall group them somewhat after Westwood, and at the end of each group append such remarks as I think applicable : Choeridium — capistratura. Copris — Carolina, anoglypticus, amnion. Cantbon — hevis. [This is the well known Phanaus — carnifex. pill roller.] Onthophagus — hecatc, ovatus. The foregoing species are included in the family ScarabidcB of MacLeay. Among them are found our common black and brassy- green dung beetles, so frequently seen in the roads and streets, during the hot days of summer. Apbodius — fimetarius, concavus, strigatus, omissus, serval, curtus, granarius. Acantbocerus — aphodioides. 112 Tliese are mostly small insects, being mucliless, generally, than the previous group, but having similar habits. Trox — tuburculatus, porcatus, capillaris, terrestris, acqualis. Insects of medium size, having a large thorax and exceedingly thick, rough external covering; inhabiting dried animal substances and excrements. Gcotrupes — splendidiis, blackburiii, excrementi, egeriei. Balbocerus — farctus, lazarus, melibocus. Similar in appearance and habits to the Scarahidoe. Lucanus — dama, lentus. [Stag-beetles.] Platyocrus — quereus. Dorcus — parallelus. Passalus — cornutus. Geruchus — picciis. This last is a well known, large, Icng, black beetle, found in and under old dry, well rotted logs — having a horn on the thorax. Djnastes — tityus. Cyclocephala — angiilaris. Xyloryetes — satyrus. Pelidnota — punctata. Heteronychus — relictus. Areoda — lanigera. Podalgus — cuniculus, tridentatus. Trichestes — pilosicolles. Cbalepus — tracypygus. The P. puncicda and A. lanigera are very abundant, coming forth from their hiding places in the evening, at twilight. They are near an inch in length, thick, fleshy beetles. They devour the tender leaves of the trees, among which they hide during the day. Phyllophaga — quercina, balia, hirticula, fu- Strigoderma — arboricola. tilis, ilijis, pi'uinosa, brunnea. Hoplia — trifasciata, mucorea. Diplotaxis — sordida. Osmodei-ma — eremicola, scabra. Omaloplia — sericea, micans. Trichius — piger, afiBnis, delta. Serica — vesperlina, tristis. Creniastocbilus — castaneffi, variolosus. Dichelouycha — linearis. Gyninetis — nitida. Anomala — variaus, minuta, lucicola. Cetonia — inda, herbacea, fulgida, melan- Macrodactylus — subspinosus. [The Rose- cholica, sepulcralis. chafer.] The foregoing species, though varying in size from over an inch in length to one fourth of an inch, they resemble each other con- siderably in appearance, being heavy, rounded and fleshy. They are vegetable-eaters, living mostly on the leaves in the perfect state, and most probably on the roots of plants in the larvge state. Some species of the last named genus delight in the sweet juices that flow from wounded fruit and other trees, and even attack the fruit of the peach. BUPEESTID^, These beetles are often brilliantly colored, of a coppery luster, or black, with golden spots or lines. They are of medium size — our species varying from one-eighth to three-fourths of an inch in length. They are of a long oval in outline, obtuse before and ta- pering behind. The head is sunk to the eyes in the fore-part of the thorax. They are frequently seen on the trunks and limbs of 113 trees, and on flowers, during the warm part of the day when the sun is shining. Their larvae are wood-borers ; and frequently do consideraVjle injury to our forest and other trees, by l)oring into their trunks. The larvns may generally be recognized by the great enlargement of the segment next the head. Dr. Harris tells us that some of these beetles eat leaves and flowers. The B. di'vari- cata, of Say, that attacks the wild, and, also, the garden cherry and the peach trees, is found in our State, as well as a number of other injurious species. Acmaeodera — tubulus. Oxvpteris — longipes. Stenurus — diyaricata, (cherry-borer ;) lu- Tr.icliyptoris — fulvoguttata. rida, baltimoi i nsis. Agrilus — bilineatus, rufficollis, lateralis. Chalcophora — Vir^i.i.ica, liberta. Brach)'s — tessellata. Buprestis — aurulenta. Metonius — ovatus. Chrysobothris — femorata. EUCNEMID^. The insects of this family are similar in form and habits to the following, {JElateridcB^) except that they do not possess the power of leaping. The only species I have the name of is : Eucnemis — amoenicornis. ELATEKID^. The insects of this family are well known by the faculty they have of throwing themselves upwards with a jerk, when laid on their backs. They are called "spring-beetles," "jumping-jacks," etc. They are generally of a long, slender form, tapering behind, rather blunt before. The head is sunk to the eyes in the fore-part of the thorax. The larvse of these insects are long and slender, and somewhat cylindrical, with the terminal segments generally a dusky color. They (Jaww) live upon wood and roots, and are found under the bark of trees and at the decaying roots of trees and stumps. Some ot these are very destructive to vegetables, eating their roots, and thus destroying them. The beetles, during summer, may be found on trees, especially the hickory and oak. Hemicrepidius — memnonius. Limonius — cylindriformis, qucrcinus, hir- Moiiocrepidius — lobatus, vespertiua. ticollis. Craton)clius — brevicollis, commuais. Cardiophorus — cardisce. rerotliops — mucidus. Elater — rubricollis, piceus. Adelocera — auripilis. Cryptohypnus — dorsalis, bellus. Alaus — oculatus. [A very common large Corynibites — micans, uppressifrons. species, with two large eye-like spots on Agiiotes — pubescens. the thorax.] Dalophius — pauper. Athous — cucullatus, melanothalmus. EHIPICEKIDJ3. Having branched antennae. Zenoa — picea. ATOPIDiE. I am unacquainted with these. Ptilodactyla — elaterisea. 114 LYCIDiE. A family that approaches the following, containing insects re- sembling the male glow-worm. Larvoe are said to reside under the bark of trees : Dictyoptera — perfaceta. Digrupha — reticulata, terminalis. LA]tfPYRIDJ3. These insects are of an elono-ate, oval form. It is among these we find the celebrated glow-worm. The body is of a soft consist- ence ; dusky, reddish and yellow colors prevail. "The larvce," Mr. Westwood says, "feed upon the bodies of snails, and other terres- trial molluscous animals. The perfect insects I have generally found on the leaves and flowers of plants, and the Chauliognathi I have taken in great abundance on the yucca, (Eve's-needle,) when in flower, also on the caraway, in bloom. AVhether they injure the plants or not, I am unable to say, but think not. Lucernuta — atra. atus. Elh'clinia — corrusca, lacustris. Sllis — bidentata. Photiuus — pyralis. Telephorus — bilineatus, impressus, caro- Pyractoiiena — angulata. linus, excavatus, scitulus. Piioturis — pensylvanicica, Podabrus — tomentosus. Chauliognathus — pensylvanicus, margin- MALACHIIDiE. Similar in habits to the last family ; live, as do some of the last named species of that family, on other insects. Body very soft. Collops — 4-maculatiis, biraaculata. Antliocomus — terminalis, literalis. CLEEID^. This family is composed of small and medium sized insects, gen- erally long, slender, and sub-cylindrical. The Illinois species are generally of a deep blue color, ornamented with bright spots of other colors. The body is much firmer and harder than the pre- ceding famil3^ They frequent flowers and low plants. Some are found under the bark of old trees and logs, in which latter situation they pass their larv£e state. ■ Our species : Trichodes — nuttalli. Phyllobsenus — dislocatus. Clerus — ichncuraoneus, rosenarius, nigri- Ichnea — laticornis. pes, dubius, undulatus. Eaoplium — pilosum. Thaneroclerus — sanquineus. Necrobia — rutiper, violaceus. Hydnocera — pallipennis. PTINID^. These insects have the thorax bent down, so as to bring the head under the breast. They live, during the larva state, in old stumps, palings, furniture, etc., which they perforate with round holes, in every direction, casting out at the entrance their borings, which look like fine saw-dust or powder. The hardest, dry hickory, ap- 115 pears a favorite with them. It is to this family the "death watch" belongs, which often sends terror to the heart of the superstitious. Among these are some species which are said to attack our fruit trees. Illinois species : Bostiiehus — aspericollis. [Apatc] Anobium — abcsiim. [Larva is a death Apate — basilaiis, fur, 4-iiiaculatus. watcb.] Xyletinus — riciiceus. KHYSODIDJi:. Our only species, of which I know nothing, is, Rhysodides — sculptilcs. SCOLTTID^. The insects of this family have the body nearly cylindrical, ob- tuse before and behind, and, are generally, of some shade of brown. The head is rounded, sunk jiretty deeply in the fore-part of the thorax, and does not end in a snout. In the larva state they are very destructive to forest and other trees. They bore .through the bark, to the wood, where thev traverse the surface of the main wood in various directions ; thus causing the bark to loosen ; and by this means the tree is iinally destroyed. They are generally oi small size. Scolytus — pyii. Tornicus — xylographus ? We also have a number of other species of this family, belonging to the genera, Platypus, Tornicus, Ilylesinus, Ilylurgus, etc., which have not been determined. I think it is by one or more spe- cies of this family that our shade trees are so often destroyed. CUKCULIONID^. This ftimily, which contains a vast number of species, is too well known by our fruit growers to need comment from me. Scarcely a plum tree is planted but they find it ; nuts, leaves, grains, and al- niost every kind of fruit and seed are subject to their attack. But as I desire, at some future day, when I have gathered more facts, and determined more of our species, to write an article on this family, I will not attempt now to descend into particulars. The following Illinois species have been determined : Dryaphthorus — corticales. Magdaliuus — armicollis. Sitophilus — granai-ius, [grain weevil,] ary- Pissodes — nemorensis. zese, [rice weevil] Sixus — concavus, musculus. Splienophorus — 13-puiictatu3, coriosus, Ilylobuis — pales. cinereus. Arrhcnodes — septentronis. Conotrachelus — xknuphar. [The "eurcu- Apion — sayi. lio."] Ithycerus — curculionoides. Mouonychus — vulpeculus. Khyneliites — bicolor, aeneus. CryptoVhynchus — foveolatus, luctuosus. Att.'labus — nigripcs. Centrinus— scutellumalbum. Cratoparis — hinatus. Baridius— trinotatus. Bruchus— crata-gi, pisi, [pea-lnig,] mus- Balaninus — nasicus. [Hazelnut weevil.] cuius. Anthononius — signatus. 116 CEKAilBYCIDiE, This is the family of "wood-borers." Tlie beetles are sometimes called long-horned or capricorn-beetles, from their long antennoe. The antennffi are long and regularly tapering, and generally curved like the horns of a goat. The body is oblong, sub-cylindrical, some- what flattened above, and tapering behind. The thorax is either quadrate or barrel-shaped, and narrower than the wing covers. The beetles, during the daytime, remain on the trees and among the leaves, but come forth and fly about at night. They deposit their eggs in the chinks and crevices of the bark of trees, into which the larvfE bore, as soon as hatched. The hardest wood will not turn them ; but they continue to bore until ready to be transformed into the perfect insect. Some species of this family are far too well known to our fruit growers. These insects vary in size, from the flfth to one and a half inches in length. Some are of a brown color ; others ornamented with black and yellow spots or stripes ; others, again, are blue or violet. Those known to inhabit Illinois, are : Paranda — brunnea? ? [I fear this is a Graphisurus — pusillus, fasciatus. mistake, yet give it.] Acdilis — obsoletus. Orthosoma — cylindricum. Leptostylus — aculiferus, macula, alpha. Prionus — inbricornis. Hyperplatys — maculatus. Purpuricenus — humeralis, axillaris. Desmiphora — tomentosa. Stenocerus — longipes. Monohammiis — dentator, confusor, scutel- Eburia — quadrigeminata. latus, pulverulentus, tigrinus, pulcher. Chion — garganicum. Plectodera — scalator. Elaphidioa — atomaria, rufulum, vicinum, Tetraopes — tornator, 5-maculatus, femo- villosum, parallelum. ratus. Criscephalus — agrestis. Dorcaschema — nigrum. Asemum — moestum. Anaerea — calcarata, mutica. Hylotrupes — bajulus. Compsidas — tridentata, lateralis. Arhopalus — fulminans. Saperda — Candida, {hivittata, Say.,) [the Callidum — ligneum, antennatum, amce- borer;] vestita, concolor, discoidea. num, varium. Atimia — coufusa. Phymatodes — variabilis. Stenosoma — sordida. Physocnemum — brevilineura. Oberea — ti'ipunctata, schaumii. Eriphus — suturalis. Distenia — undata. Clytus — spcciosus, nobilis, flexuosus, ery- Desmocerus — cyaneus. throcephalus, sagittatus, campestris, Toxotus — decoloratus. capreea, hamatus, midulatus, superno- Pachyta — cyanipennis. tatus, ruricola. Acmaeops — proteus. Cyrtophorus — verrucosus. Straugalia — luteicornis, bicolor, elegans. Euderces — picipes. Leptura — canadensis, erythroptera, rubri- Stizocera — unicolor. ca, vittata, vagaus, sinuata. Steuopterus — sanguinicollis, rufus. Trigonarthris — proxima. Molorchus — mcllitus. Anoplodera — 4-vittata. Acanthoderes — decipiens. This family, as given above, which follows the Melsheimer Cat- alogue, includes, also, the families PrionidcB^ and Lejpturidm^ as given in "Westwood's "Modern Classification." CHKYSOMELIDiE. This family includes several groups of species difiering consid- erably in several respects, and is, by many Entomologists, divided 117 into several distinct families. The name signifies golden-beetle, which has been given on account of the brilliant metallic colors with which many of the species are ornamented. Most of the species are leaf-eaters, and, consequently, injurious to plants, and especially to cultivated vegetables. The species are generally of small size, some being quite minute. Orsodacna — ruficoHis. Haemonia — mel-;heimeri. Donacia — proxitna, lucida, piscatrix, cu- Lcrna — trilineata, sexpuuctata. prea. The foregoing species belong to the family Crioceridse, as lim- ited by Westwood, who is followed by Harris. The hind legs, in some of the species, have the thiglis much thickened and enlarged. Harris gives them the name of "oblong leaf-beetles." The L. tri- lineata injure potato plants, by eating holes in the leaves. Odontota — scapularis, nigrita, suturalis, Cephaloleia — metallica. Uroplata — inasqualis, rosea. These are small insects, sometimes collected into a family, called Hisjyidcc. They mine the leaves of apple and other trees and plants. Clielymorpha — ci'ibraria. Coptocvcla — auiichalcea, bivittata. [These Deloyala — signifcr, clavata. two are the species that attack the leaves of the sweet potato.] These species belong to the family Cassididm^ as limited by "Westwo^td. The larvae have the peculiar habit of carrying a shield over their backs, which they can raise or lower, by means of their tail. Galeruca — saggitaria, gelatinarias, notata, CEdipodes — pilosa. tubercuhita, decorata. Graptodera — chalvbea, exapta. Cerotoina — caminea. Disonycha — alternata, coUaris, subplicata. Diabrotica — vittata, (cucumber-beetle,) 12- Crepidodera — erj thiopus. punctata. Phyllotreta — striolata. Phyllobrotica — discoidea. Thyaniis — testacea. (Edionychis — petaurista, thoracica, vians, Psylliodes — denticulata. miniata. Most of these belong to the tribe of ilea-beetles, (Galerucidae,) so named on account of their small size and leaping ]>owers. They attack the leaves of vegetables, especially the crucifera. Labidotncra — trimaculat?. Hetaraspis — curtipos. Polygramnua — 10-lineata. Glyptoscelis — barbatus. Caliigrapha — Philadelphica, decipieus, bigs- Myochrous — squamosus. byana. Chlumys — assimilis. Chrysomela — auripennis, costa, rimilis, cle- Excma — gibber. gans. Clythra — obsita. Melasoma — scripta, interrupta. Babia — quadriguttata. Gastrophysa — cajruleipennis. Coscinoptera — dominicana. Helodes— trivittata. Pachybrachis — bivittatus, luridus, infaus- Calospis — strigosa. tus, abdominalis, pubescens. Noda — purvula. Monachus — saponatus. Metachroma — 4-iiotata, infuscato, lanella. Cryptoeephalus — mutabilis, venustus, orna- BromiuH — vitis. tus, ■l-maculatus, auratus. Chrysochus — auratus. 118 These insects are collected, b}^ some writers, into the restricted familj, Chrysomelidm. Some of the species are clothed in beauti- ful metallic colors, and feed on the leaves of various weeds, and sometimes on useful vegetables. Some species feed on our com- mon knot-weed ; another on the leaves of the dog's-bane. COCCINELLIDiE. This is the Lady-bug or Lady-bird family, so well known on ac- count of their abundance and their beautiful colors. They are distinguished by the hemispherical and convex form of the body. They are probably the most useful insects to man that belong to the order, rendering him a great benefit, by destroying myriads of plant-lice. Their eggs are deposited in the midst of the plant-lice, upon which the larv^se commence feeding as soon as hatclied. The prevailing colors are red and yellow, with black spots ; but this is sometimes reversed, and we find some species that are black, with red or yellow spots : Illinois species : Hippodamia — 13-punctatura, couvergens, Chilocorus — bivulnerus, cacti. glacialis, parenthesis, maculata. Exoehomus — tripustulatus. Coccinella — bipu.-ictata, veausta, tricuspis, Brachyacantlia — ursina. iiovemnotata, munda, normata, multi- Scymnus — Americanus. guttata. Epilacbna — borealis. Mysia — pullata, 15-punctata. Sacium — fasciatus. Psyllobora — 20-maculata. ENDOMYCHID^. This family is composed of species similarly colored to the lady- birds, though they are more oblong in outline. They subsist chiefly on boleti and fungi. Endomychus — biguttatus. Phymaphora — pulcbella. Lycoperdina — lineata. TESTEBEIONIDiE. This family is composed of insects mostly of a deep black color ; body generally oblong or ovate, and somewhat depressed, though not flat. They mostly inhabit dark places, such as cellars, stables, pantrie'?, and damp situations, from which the light is excluded. A common large Illinois species frequently enters the house at night, in company with sj^ecies of Carabidae, and may be taken for one of that family. Some feed upon and do much damage to meal, flour, bran and breadstuff', baked and unbaked ; others live on bo- leti and similar vegetable substances ; while others appear to fre- quent animal excrements or decaying animal substances. Some are found under stones, planks, and around houses, mills, etc. Blapstinus — interruptus. Platydema — Americana, ruficornis, bifus- Opatrinus — notus. ciatus. Oplocephala — bicornis, viridipennis, exca- Diaperis — hydni. vata. Crymodes — discicollis. 119 Uloma — culinaris, impressa, ferruginea. Meracantlia — canadensis. Tcnebiis — molitor, obscura. Helops — niicans, tenebrioidcs. Ccntronipus — calcaratus. Pcntbe — obliquata, pimelia. Iphthinus — Peusylvanious, ulpis, saperdoi- Allecula — obscura. dos, Ibnioratiis. llycetochores — binatata. Upis — ccraraboidcs. Cistela — fuscipes, seiicea. Bolitoi>hagus — eornutus. Of the above there are several genera that AVestwood and others have placed in other families. Thus, Diaperis in Diaperidce^ found in boleti, fungi, under bark, etc; Ilelops in Helojndce^ found on flowers, under the bark of trees, etc.; Cistela in Cistelidce, the larvte of which live in rotten wood. The following family, al- though separated in the Melsheimer Catalogue, which I am fol- lowing in my arrangement and nomenclature, is closely allied in habits to the foregoing. MELA.NDRYID.E. Molandrya — striata. Dircaaa — 4-maculatus. -unibrina. Eustrophus — bi color, tomentosus. MOKDELLID.Ti:. Our species are: .^landrya — striata, laiona — unibrina. Serropalpus — substriatus. This is a family composed of singular hump-back insects, with heads bent under the breast, and deep bod}^, tapering to a point behind. They frequent flowers and plants, and, when alarmed, tuck their heads under their breasts and drop to the ground. They are generally of small size : Antliobus — trifosciata. Ripiphorus — dimidiatus. Mordella — oculata, melccna, marginata. MELOID^. This is the blister-fly family. It also contains the potato-bug, that does so much damage by destroying the plants of our Irish potatoes. Although sjjecies considerably diftering from these are gathered into this family, yet from the well known potato bog the characters of the family may be gathered. The Meloe angusticoUis is a singular insect, found in the fall, along the warm fence cor- ners, under the grass. The females, with immense swollen abdo- mens, which the warped wings but partially cover. They are a deep blue-black color ; and from the joints oozes a yellow acrid fluid. Horia— sangninipennis. Cantharis — >\)nea, engelmanii. Meloe — augusticollis. • Zonitis — bilineatea. Epicanta — vittata, marginata, atrata, cine- Cepaloon — lepturides. rea. Xacerdes — melanura. The five following families, not being important in an agricultu- ral point of view, and my knowledge of them being very Hmited, I will give a list of the Illinois species, so far as they have been de- termined, without further comment. 120 LAGKID^. Statyra — fenca. PTEOCIIKOID.E. Pyrochroa — flabellata, femoralis. SALPINGIDJS. Sal pingu s — viresc ens. ANTHICro^. Notoxus — anchora, monodon, bicolor, bifasciatus. Anthicus — basilaris, elegan?, cervinus. PSELAPHIDJE. Tyrus — liumeralis. Batrisus — globosus. Bryaxis — dentata, hsematica, longula. STAPH YLTNIDiE. The insects of this family are easily distinguished by their short elytra or wing-covers, which generally extend over but a small por- tion of the abdomen. They are generally of a long, narrow, de- pressed form. They run and fly with great agility ; are voracious, preying upon decaying animal and vegetable matters. The species of our State are generally of small size, seldom exceeding three- fourths of an inch in length, and mostly less than one-fourth of an inch long. I have seen myriads of a small species issue from the ground of a warm summer evening and swarm in the air, when they were taken for gnats. Tachinus — fimbriatus. Quediua — laticolHs. Staphylinus — villosus, cingulatus, vulpinus, Oxyporus — vittatus. maculosus, cinnamoptei'us, violaceus, to- Cryptobium — badiiim, bicolor. nientosus. Paederus — littorarius. Philonthiis — cyanipennis, Baltimoriensis. Apocellus — sphajricollis. "With these I close the list of Illinois Coleoptera. And here it becomes my duty to say that this list is made up from lists furnish- ed me by Dr. Helmuth, of Chicago ; Dr. Walsh, of Eock Island ; Dr. E. Brendel, of Menard county, and the Evanston Institution, including a list of my own collection. The list furnished by Dr. Helmuth includes fully three-fourths of this entire list. The other lists, as well as my own, go over much of the same ground, each including from wo to four hundred species. I will here present a short list ot species belonging to the order IIemi27tera, which I have determined. Although comprising but a small portion of the species found in Illinois, belonging to this or- der, yet I deem it best to present it, in order to make a commence- ment of a Catalogue. I shall not, in this list, make any attempt to be systematic, as I have not thf time at present to do so. 121 Galgupha — maruta. Nob. Nov. ?p. Macropus — leucopteius. Fitch. [Chincli- I'entatonia — (Catostviax) cytiica. Say. biijr.] '• (Morniidea) augur. Say. Myodocli — opotihita. Say. " ( Asopus ) sanguiiiipennis — Bn ytiis — (Noidcs) s^pinosus. Say. Nob. Nov. f=p. Khiiiiiclins — (Anisoscelcf;) nasulus. Say. Pentatoma — calcoata. Say. Capsus — oblincatus. Say. " rufescens. Nob. Nov. .=p. " 4-vittatus. Say. " punctipcs, No. 1. Say. Galgulus — oculatvis. Fabr. " punrtipe.s No. 2. Say. GerriH — m rginatus. Say. " bimaculata. Nob. Nov. sp. Cicada — isoptomdecem. Linn. Hymenarcys — pcrpunctata. Serv. " pruinosa. Say. Corcus — tri.-^tis. Say. " jjarvula. Say. '• (Acanthocoris) galcator. Fabr. Mcmbracis — camelus. Fabr. Reduvius — raptatorius. Say. " (Miler) galeator. Fabr. " crassipes. Fabr. Ccrcopis — quadrangularis. Say. " acuniinatus. Say. Tettigonia — 8-lineata. Say. Aradus — acutus. Say. " (luadrivittata. Say. Lyga?us — terciciis. Fabr. Fbita — (Acnnonia) conica. Say. Paniera — constricta. Sd}-. lassus — subbifasciatus. Say. " Nodosa. Say. Fulgora — sulcipcs. Say. The species marked above as nevr species are some that I named and described in a paper presented to the Chicago Academy of Sciences. Before concludino; these notes, I may add that since the last vol- nme of the Agricultural Transactions of Illinois was issued I have ascertained several new species of Orthoptera, two of which have been named by Mr. Uhler, of Baltimore ; one by myself; the oth- ers yet remain unnamed. But I will not^ attempt to present any thing in regard to them, until I have gathered further facts re- specting their habits and transformations. I will also add that I desire, during the coming summer, to make as large a collection as possible of our grasshoppers, and would be glad to receive from each county in the State collections, either pinned or dropped in alco- hol, the collector's name and locality accompanying those sent; also any information in regard to their habits, injuries, history, etc., will be thankfully received, as I desire to prepare a full report on our species, their liabits, injuries, the remedies, etc.. which will be handed over to the Agricultural Society, if desired. —13 / / ,i \] b ^ l->.'> J oo NOTES ON Til Ell SPECIES. Otisorex platyrhiniis, Dekaj, [Sorex])-', Wagner,) of Mr. Iven- iiicott's list, I have not placed in the list, as I have some donhts ahoiit it being a native of Illinois. Yet it is not impossible Mr, Kennicott is correct, though I think the species referred to is, S. coo])erii. iSorex richardsonii, and S. Hoyi^ may possibly be fonnd within our State. The following species may also be fonnd in the State : Blarina Carulinensis. Sciurus Ynlpinus. I2eithrodo7i IlumiJis ? The Arvicola hirsuius, of Mr. Kennicott's first list, is probably A . rijjaria. As to his Arvicola oneida, (Dekay,) I can say nothing. Also, as to Putorius agilis^ (And. and Bach.,) in his list, I can say nothing. Same in regard to Sciunis cinereus. I have preferred following closely the descriptions of Dr. Baird, even when the specimens were before me, which I have done throno-hout with but little change. PLAN FOR A NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY. By Ctrtts Thomas, of Murphjsboro, Illinois. All the ^vol•k done by the Society, imd every step taken, should be done in such a manner that it will not be necessary to 2;o over the same ground tlie second time. But in order to do this, it is necessary to have some 2?la?r, some method of operating. There- fore, I, as an lunnble member ot the Society, propose the following fur the consideration of the Society : J't/'tit —in regard to our fora. The Phenogamic plants of Illinois having been pretty thorough- ly determined by our Western botanists, but little remains to be done so tar as the determining of species is concerned. Never- theless, this held is by no means tinished; enough for more than one year's work remains for our most active botanists. Let the catalogue for the State be corrected and completed during the year ; and in doing this, let the introduced plants be ascertained and so marked in the catalogue. Let the suite of specimens at the Museum be completed, care being taken to furnish such specimens as exhibit most distinctly the specific characteristics. Let another part of the next year's work be to determine the geographical range of our trees and some of the other most impur- tant plants. The Society during its present session making out a list for that purpose. And, also, to assist in this part of the work, I would suggest that the Society, during the present session, di- vide the State into districts, defining accurately the boundary of each. Let there be at least four, and probably live or six would be better. For instance : 1st — The Northwest — that part of the State west and northwest of the Illinois river. 2d — The North — that part east of the Illinois river and north of Bloomington. 3d — The Central — that part south of Bloomington and north of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. 4th — The South — Egypt. And at the same time this should not interfere with the general division into prairie and timber, which runs through ah. If this districting is done it will answer for both ])lants and animals. And although an artiticial arrangement, which will give way to such divi- sions as Nature has established, yet it will answer a good purpose 136 ill recording facts to be used in ascertaining Nature's boundaries and for future explorers. And as another i)art of the work for the coming year, let our botanists make a commencement upon the Illinois Cryptogamia. Next — as to animals. Let the list of mammals be carefully corrected and completed, and those not now to be found in the State so marked ; and, as far as possible, the time of their departure ascertained. Also, let the geographical limits uf each species be determined. And it should be made a special point this year to place in the Museum a com- plete suite of our mammals (male and female,) and, also, a skull of each species. During the coming year our Ornithologists should get ready their cataloo-ue of birds. Ichthyology and lierpetology will have to remain among the generalities another year. Our Conchologisto ought to be able during the year to prepare a complete catalogue of Illinois Midlusks, and furnish a complete suite of shells to the Museum. They can also make a commence- ment at determining the geographical distribution of species. Crustacea and Arachnida will have to lie over until some one can be induced to take hold of them. As to Insects, I propose that for the next meeting we prepare a general catalogue, including all the species in all the orders that have been and that we may be able during the year to determine as inhabitants of our State , but that our entomologists take spe- cially in charge the list of Coleoptera, and try and render it as full as possible by next year. Then, summing up, we have before us, for the year ending June, 1S61— 1. Correcting and completing the catalogue of Illinois Fhenoga- mia. 2. Determining the geographical range (within the State) of our trees, and some of our other most important j^lants, and wheth- er they are conlined to prairie or timber. 3. Complete the suite of plants in the Museum. 4. Correct and complete the catalogue of Illinois Mammals, and determine the geographical range of each species. 5. Furnish the Museum with specimens of both sexes of each spe- cies, and a skull of each. 6. Prepare a catalogue of our Birds. 7. Correct and complete the catalogue of our Shells, and furnish the JMuseiim with specimens of each species. 8. Prepare a catalogue of all Insects known to inhabit the State, so far as determined. And besides all this let the general work of gathering and deter- mining, in all departments, classes and orders, goon, especial refer- ence being had to the early completion of our lists of Keptiles and Fishes. 137 So much in regard to the Flora and Fauna. Is the ground too extensive? Much of the work has already been done/and tliis is proposed in order to clear up and dispose of these branches, that our energies ma}- not be expended in traveling over the same ground a second time. It will also enable us to say to the people at large what particu- lar specimens we want ; what particular aid we need, etc. And then they are more willing to take hold and assist. And to complete the plan, specific work should be assigned to such members as are willing to undertake it ; and to them should be sent, first, the map of the specimens gathered in the State — to each, those of his particular class or order. And the Society, then, should extend to these members such aid, in the way of books, pre- servatives, instruments, etc., as possible, in our present weak state. And to do this M^ork most profitably, not only to ourselves, but the world at large, the Society, at its present session, should direct its executive committee to propose to the Smithsonian Institution to co-operate with that Institution. The members should furnish the Society with a list of the works on Natural History they have. The reason is obvious. Hoping the Society will consider these things and act according to the judgment of those present, I will close. —15 ADDITIONS TO THE FLOKA OF ILLINOIS. By Dr. George Taset, of Ringwood, Illinois. To Prof. Tcrxer, President of the Illinois Natural History Society: Deak Sik: — The qnestion is sometimes asked: What is your Natural History Society accomplishing!! To answer tliis inquiry, so far as the Department of Botany is concerned, I propose to give a list of the additions which have been made to the Flora of the State, by members of the Society, and to make such remarks thereon, as may appear of interest. The catalogue of Illinois plants published in the third volume of the Transactions of the Illinois Agricultural Society, was prepared by I. A. Lapham, Esq., of Milwaukee, partly from personal obser- vations made in the State, and partly from the information of botanists residing in the State. This catalogue enumerates some one thousand and iifty-two species of plants; and, considering the means at hand for its preparation, must be considered as remark- ably well executed. About this time, an interest was being awa- kened among Naturalists, which led tothe organization of the Nat- ural History Society. In the next volume of the Transactions of the Agricultural Society, are three lists of plants additional to the catalogue of Mr. Lapham; one by Dr. F. Brendel of Feoria, one by Mr. M. S. Bebb of Marion county, and one by the present writer. There is also, in the same volume, a remarkably full and interest- ing article on the Trees and Shrubs of Illinois, by Dr. Brendel. I also prepared for the annual meeting of the Natural History Society in Jane last, a list of additional species which had come under my observation up to that time, and also a list by Dr. S. B. Mead of Augusta. This list was subsequently published in the Frairie Farmer. Since that time quite a large number of addi- tional species have been collected by myself in several excursions into different parts of the State. All these various additions I now incorporate in the accompanying catalogue. Beside the per- sons whose names have been already mentioned, tliere have been several others engased in observing the vegetation of the localities where they reside. So far as is known to me, they are Dv. F. 140 Scammon of Chicasro, Mr. E. Hall of Athens, Mr. K. K. Slosson of Morris, and Dr. O. Everett of Dixon. Of the species here enumerated as many as ten are not only ad- ditions to the Flora of the State, but are also additions to the Flora of the JN'orthern United States, and indeed to that portion of our country included in Dr. Gray's Manual of Botany, which embra- ces Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. There is no doubt that a full exploration of our State will yet present many interesting additions. Many of the plants in the following catalogue have been collected by several botanists and the plan of the present article will not admit of making reference to them by name in each instance. It would also increase the in- terest of the article, if the localities of the rare plants could be given, together with plain and intelligible descriptions; but this must be deferred to a future occasion. The mosses and liverworts are not here included. CATALOGUE Hepatica acutiloba, D. C. Thalictrum dioecum, L. Kanunculus rhomboidens, Goldie " pennsylvanicus, L. " hispidus, Mx. ^Delphinium, consolida, L. Actba spicata, var. rubra, Mx. Jeffersonia diphylla, Pers. Sarracenia purpurea, L. *Paparu somuiferum, L. Dicentra canadensis, D. C. ^]S[asturtium officinali, R. Br. obtusum, iNutt. sinuatum, Kutt. sessililiorum, Nutt. Cardamine rhomboidae, var. Tor. Arabis hirsuta, Scop. Draba micrantha, Nutt. "Camelina sativa, Crantz. ^Sinapis alba, L. Lepidium intermedium. Gray. Cakile americana, Nutt. Turritis glabra, L. Yiola lanceolata, L. Solea concolor, Ging. Ascyrum crux andrea, L. Hypericum kalmianum, L. a a ti a Hypericum ellipticum. Hook. adpressum. Barton. dolabriforme, Yent. gymnanthemum. nudiilorum, Mx. Elodea petiolata, Pursh. *yaccaria vulgaris, Host. Alsine michauxii, Fenzl. ^Stellaria media, L. '"Cerastium viscosum, L. " oblongifolium, Torr. Sagina apetala, L. " nodosa, Fenzl. Claytonia caroliniana, Mx. Talinum teretifolium, Pursh. ■"Malva sylvestris, L. ''^Malva crispa, L. *Hibiscus trionum, L. Tilia Pubescens, Ait. *Linum usitatissimum, L. Floerka proserpinacoides, "VVilld. Vitis vulpina, L. " indivisa, Willd. " bipinnata, T. & G. Rhamnus alnifolius, L'PIer. Ceanothus ovalis, Bigelow. " intermedins. 141 Polygala cruciata, L. Lupin us pereunis, L. Trit'ulium arvense, L. *Melilotus alba, Lam. *Medicago sativa, L. *Medicago lupulina, L. Desmoclium ciliare, D. C. " raarilandicum, Boot. Lespedeza hista, Ell. Alicia caroliniana, Walt. " araericana, Muh. Lathyrus ochroluecus, Hook. " palustris, L. " iiiaritimus, Big. Baptisia australis, R. Br. Cassia obtusifolia. Scliraukia iincinata, Willd. Prunus pumila, L. Geuni album, Gmelin. " strictum, Ait. " trillorum, Ph. " macropliyllum, "VYilld. Potentilla paradoxa, Xutt. " anserina, L. " palustris, Scop. Fragaria vesca, L. Pub us strigosus, Mx. " triilorus, Rich. *Rubus idteus. Rosa blanda, Ait. *Rosa rubiginosa, L. Cratcgus coccinea, L. Epilobium angustifoiium, L. " molle, Torr. Oenothera albicaulis, Nutt. Gaura Ulipes, Spach. Jussisea repens, L. Ludwigia splijerocarpa, Ell. Circea alpina, L. Myriophyllum verticillatum, L. Hippuris vulgaris, L. Ribes cynosbati, L. " hirtellum, Mx. " missouriense, Nntt. Saxifrage pennsylvaiiica, L. Mitella'diphylla, L. Ilainamelis virginica, L. Sanicula canadensis, L. Archangelica atropurpurea, Hoff. u Sium angustifoiium, L. *Conium maculatum, L. Conio selinum canadense, T.&G. Eulophus americauus, IS^utt. Aralia spinosa, L. Corn us alternillora, L, '' circinata, L'Her. Yiburniim lentago, L. dentatum, L. pubescens, Pursh. acerifulium, L. Galium boreale, L. *' concinnum, T. & G Fedia radiata, Mx. Valeriana edulis, i*^utt. *Dipsacus sylvestris. Mill. "Tussilage farfara, L. Aster corymbosus, Ait. '• ptarmicoides, T. & G. Solidago stricta, Ait. Xanthium spinosum, L. Boltonia diltusa. "Coreopsis tinctoria, jSTutt. Tanacetnm vulgare, L. Artemesia dracnnculoides. Graphilium uliginosum, L. *Cirsium lanceolatum, Scop. *Cirsium arvense. Scop. *Centaurea cyanus, L. Hieracium canadense, Mx. Lobelia kalmii, L. Campanula rotnndifolia, L. Yaccinium vacillans, Sol. " macrocarpon, Ait. Arctostaphylos nvaurse, Sp. Andromeda polifolia, L. Pyrola elliptica, Nutt. Bumelia lycioides, Gaert. Lysin:achia longifolia. Ph. Is^aumburgia thyrsiflora, R. Utricularia gibba, L. " subulata, L. Aphyllon fasciculatum, T. & G. Linaria canadensis, Spr. *Linaria vulgaris. Mill. Pentstemon digitalis, Xutt. Mimnlus jamesii, Torr. Gratiola s})h[erocarpa, Ell. Veronica peregrina, L. 142 Castilliea sessiliflora, Ph. Gerard ia setacea, Walt. Verbena officinalis, L. Cunila Mariana, L. Pycnantlierauni incaniini, Mx. Calaniintha glabella, var. Gr. Scutellaria parvula, Mx. Onosniocliumcarolinianum,D.C. Hjdrophjllum canadense, L. Phacelia bipinnatitida, Mx. ., Phlox raaculata, L. " reptans, Mx. *Ipomea purpurea, Lam. Hydrolea quadrivalvis. Gentiana dentosa, Fries. Obolaria virginica, L. Foresteronia ditforniis, D. C. Asclipias phytolaccoides, Ph. " nuttal liana, Torr. " parvillora. Ph. Acerates paniculata. " monocephala, Lap. Gonolobus macrophyllus, Mx. Fraxinus sambucifolia, Lam. Chenopodium urbicum, L. " glaucum, L. Coriospermum hyssopifolium . *Amarantus hypochondriacus,L, '^Polygonum orientale, L. *Polygonum convolvulus, L. " aurjfolium, L. *Fagopyrum esculentum, M. Rumex maritimus, L. Dirca palustris, L. Shepherdia canadensis, 'N. Callitriche verna, L. Euphorbia polygonitblia. Ricinus communis, L. Ulmus racemosa, Thomas. " ulata, Mx. Celtis mississippiensis, Bos. Betula alba, var. Spach. " papyracea, Ait. " pumilia, L. *Salix babylonica, Tour. " petiolaris, Smith. " nigra, Marshall. " longifolia, Muhl. " lucida, Muhl. Salix rostrata, Rich. " cordata, Muhl. " eriocephala, Muhl. " discolor, Muhl. " Candida, Willd. " pedicel laris, Pursh. Populus grandidentata, Mx. " monilifera. Ait. Pinus banksiana, Lambert. " strobus, L. Larix americana, Mx. Taxus baccata, var. L. Juniperus communis, L. Symplocarpus foetidus, Salis. Orontium aquaticura, L. Sparganium natans, L. Peltandra virginica, Raf. Naias ilexilis, Rosth. Potomageton pectinatus, L. Triglochin 2:)alustre, L, " maratimum, var. L. Scheuchzeria palustris, L. Limnobium spongia, Rich. Platanthera, llava. Gray. " lacera. Gray. Goody era pubescens, R. Br. Arethusa bulbosa, L. Pogonia ophioglossoides, N'ntt. Aletris farinosa, L. Iris Duerinkii. Smilax glauca, Walt.! " tamnoides, L. " hispida, Muhl. Trillium nivale, Riddell. Polygonatum gigantum, Deit. Smilacina bifolia, Iver. Lilium superbum, L. Zygadenutj glaucus, ]S^utt. Stenanthium angustifolium, Gr Toiieldia glutinosa, Willd. Juncus balticus, Willd, " paradoxus, E. Meyer. " articulatus? L. " nodosus. L. Eliocharis intermedia, Sch. Scirpus planifolius, Muhl. Rhynchospora capillacea, Torr. Cladium mariscoides, Torr. Carix bromoides, Schk. 143 Carixchorrdorrhiza, Erhr. " limosa, L. " livida, Willd. " crawei, Dew. " careyaiia^ Torr. " Oederi, Ehrh. " lilitbrmis, L. " comosa, Boot. " hystricina, Willd. " cyliudrica. " careyana. " stenolepis. Aira cespitosa, L. Agrostis perennans, Tuck. Calamagrostis loijgifolia, Hook. u ar en aria. Boutelona hirsiita, Lagas. Glyceria pallida, Trin. Poa serotina, Ehrh. Setaria viridis, Beauv. Triticnra caninum, L. Triticum repens, L. Hierochloa borealis, R. & S. Panicum anceps, Michx. Equisetum limosum, L. " variegatiim, Schr. Polypodinm vnlgare, L. Strutbiopteris germanica, Will. Allosurus atropiirpurens, G. Asplenium ebeneum, Ait. Cbeilanthes tomeiitosa, Link, Woodsia obtusa, Torr. Cystopteris bnlbifera, Bern. Aspidium thelypteris, Swartz. " spinulosum, Swartz. " goldianurn, Hook. Osmunda regalis, L. Lycopodium lucidulum, Mx. Selaginella rnprestris, Spring. Chara polypbylla. This mark [*] indicates that the species is introduced and natu- ralized. MUSEUM OF THE ILLINOIS STATE NATUKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. By C. D. WiLBER, of Bloomington, Illinois. [SEK FRONTISPIECE.] The State Normal University has been made the depository for all collections in the various departments of IN'atural History which may be made under the auspices of the Society, and also for such collections as may be donated. For this purpose, two laro;e halls in the University building have been united by an arch, affording a spacious gallery one hundred feet in length and thirty-three feet wide. This hall, called the Museum of Geology and Natural History, has been fitted up in the most approved style, from plans furnished by Richard H. Holder, Esq., of Bloomington, who vis^ited the Museums of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences, the Boston Academy, and the Salem Museum. The following is a brief outline of the plan adopted : Arranged along the floor, in front, near the windows, are twelve glass structures or houses, each four feet by eight feet and ten feet high, furnished with shelves and bases, for the department of Or- nithology. In these structures, which are of pure French glass, the birds are arranged in families, each with its name and habitat. At present they are chiefly occupied by the Birds of Illinois. Acioss an aisle, four feet in width, are placed twelve structures, made also of plate glass, corresponding with the structures for Birds. These are in the form of parallelograms, each three feet by twelve feet, and surmounted by a glass show case of the same dimensions and eight inches in depth. In the lower spaces are placed specimens of our coal flora, such as Lepidodendra, Sigill- aria, etc., which are too large for shelves. These, as they are all of one geological epoch, are grouped with reference to the localities —16 14G whence they were taken. The glass showcases above are devoted to carboniferous fossils and shells. In the rear of the parallelograms is an extended bureau of draw- ers, divided into two sections, at the middle of the room. Each division contains four hundred and eighty drawers, and each drawer is tifteen by eighteen inches and three inches in depth, furnished with a glass cover, and arranged in series of ten ; every two series, or twenty drawers, being protected by folding doors. These are devoted to Jiotany and Entomology. Above this range of drawers, along the wall, are sections of com- mon shelves, provided with folding doors, designed to contain fos- sils, ores, minerals and crystals. The fossils are to be arranged in the order of the geological formation or epoch which they illustrate. At present they are g'rouped according to the localities in the State where they are found. In the southern division of the Museum are placed the Minerals of Illinois and the adjacent states, presenting a typical view of the mineral wealth of the' Mississippi Valley, and designed to illustrate what is termed Economical Geology. For example : all the va- rieties of Iron ore, with samples of every process of its n^anufac- ture, are arranged by themselves; Lead, its ores and oxides; also. Copper ; Coal, its varieties and products ; Soils, with accompanying analyses, etc., etc. The corresponding northern section is occupied by a collection of Crystals, arranged according to the basis of each order, viz: Carbonates, Silicates, etc. Each specimen will be accompanied with its specitic name and the name of the locality, also of the person donating the same to the Society. A space above these sections, in both divisions, is devoted to such collections as are preserved in alcohol, viz : Reptiles, Fishes, Crus- tacea, etc. A series of paintings, by Bryant, illustrating the principal geo- logical epochs, are placed in line at the top of the last described sectious, and, when finished, will occupy the entire length of the Museum. Of this series four are now complete. The library cases, two at each end of the Musenm, are provided for the scientific works, reports and papers of the Society. The principal design of the Society, in regard to this general collection of Natural History, is to furnish the greatest possible number of Object Lessons in each department, and so arrange the objects or specimens that they will convey to the student or ob- server a correct view of the order or philosophy of Nature ; in short, to make of the Museum a well arranged volume, wliose illus- trations, indicating the order of creation, were prepared by the Great Artist, who laid the foundations of the earth. Valuable collections have been received from the following per- sons: J. T. Gulick, Sandwich Islands; P. A. Chadbourne, Massa- chusetts; J. W", J. Culton, Michigan; C. P. Williams, Michigan; William Hovey, Michigan; Rev, E. R. Beadle, Hartford, Connec- ticut; F. D. Fyler, Winsted, Connecticut ; E. J. Pickett, Rochester, 147 New York; Joseph Even, Morris, Illinois; A. "W. Nason, St. Johns; C. A. Montross, Centralia; Jasper Johnson, Vienna; Miss Katie x\. Tiionipson, Vienna; Cjriis Thomas, Murphjsboro ; Dr. M. Davis, Oswe<^(); William H.Allen, Grafton; F. A. McDonald, Grafton; William McAdams, Jersey ville; Drs. Bennett tk; Chafiee, Alton; Capt. E. H. Eeebe, Galena; Dr. Oliver Everett, Dixon; A. M. Gow, Dixon ; Eev. A. 11. Conant, Eockford; T. J. Willever, Bloomini!;t(jn ; Dr. J. W. Velie, liock Island ; Dr. Whittlesey, Galva; Rush Emery, Hamilton; Dr. William H. Githens, Hamil- ton; Daniel Gordon, Moline; George Sliockey, Iowa; Miss Mar- tha Coggeshall, Nantucket; Prof. J. 11. McChesney, Chicago; John P. lieynolds, Springfield; A. H. Worthen, Sprinirfield ; M. S. ]3ebl), Sprinirtield ; E. Hall, Athens; J. W. Powell, 'Wheaton ; Dr. E. P. Koe,^lJ. D. Eddy, H. W. Boyd, and H. B. Cole, Bloom- ington. At the meeting of the Society, July 3d, P. H. Holder presented his entire collection of the Birds of Illinois. A similar donation was made by Dr. George Vasey, of the Flora of Illinois, consist- ing of nearly fourteen hundred species, collected by him during the last ten j-ears. Pev. Dr. Eddy, of Bloomington, presented a cabinet of fossils and specimens, illustrating the Diift. Mr. Bry- ant donated to the Society the collection of paintings rJready refer- red to. Mr. Wilber presented a suite of western minerals and fossils. B. D. Walsh and Cyrus Thomas have presented valuable collections of insects. Tiie Pailroad and Express companies of the State, with a liberality never exceeded, have also contributed greatly to the present success. The Museum above described can be referred to only as a begin- ning. Three years of labor have been devoted to it. It will pros- per in proportion as it advances the educational interests of the State. Its founders hope for success upon no other basis. It will be dedicated, with appropriate exercises, as a free offek- iNG TO THE CITIZENS AND SCHOOLS of Illiuols, on Wednesday, De- cember 25th, 18G1. INSECTS IKJUmOUS TO VEGETATION IN ILLINOIS. By Benj. D. Walsh, Esq., Rock Island, III. "Insects are little contemptible vermin, unworthy the notice of any grown man." Such is the popular opinion on the subject. Let us see if it will stand the test of a rigorous examination. The wheat crop of the State of Illinois, according to the United States census, was, in round numbers, three and one-third million bushels in 1839-40, and nine and one-third million bushels in 1849-50. In 1859-60, at the same rate of increase, it would be over twenty- six million bushels, and there is no doubt but that — owing to the extraordinary abundance of all our harvests — it this year very largely exceeds that amount. We may safely assume twenty-five million bushels as what would have been a fair average crop for the season of 1861. It is only two years since the entire wheat crop of the State was so damaged by the chinch-bug that a great deal of it was not cut at all, and a great deal that was cut barely paid for the harvesting. Scarcely a year elapses but what more or less damage is done to it by this insect, and by the Hessian-fiy and the wheat midge. A large breadth of winter wheat, which is commonly supposed to be "winter-killed," is in reality killed by the Hessian-fly ; and there may be, and probably are, many other insects which depredate upon this crop, but whose habits have not yet fallen under the no- tice of entomologists. Eleven bushels to the acre, according to the census, was the average produce in this State in 1849-50. It cannot possibly be less than twenty bushels in 1861. What is the cause of this enormous discrepancy? It cannot be that the land is tired of wheat, for if it was tired in '50, it must be still worse tired in '60, It cannot be attributed to improved methods ol cultivation,' though this, no doubt, has had some influence, for, in that case, the crop of each successive year would be gradually larger and larger. Neither can we attribute it to the weather, for the only thing specially re- markable about the season of '60 was the very early plowing time, and springs equally early must be in the recollection of every old 150 settler, which were followed by quite moderate harvests. The only remaining cause to which it is possible to attribute the luxuriant wheat crop of ^6i), is the almost entire absence ot noxious insects. ^y^i had no chinch-bug, no llessian-liy, and, so far as I am aware, but a single case of wheat midge, in one of our central counties. The difference, therefore, between eleven and twenty bushels per acre, for the year which has just elapsed, must be principally attri- buted to the absence of these "little contemptible vermin, which are beneath the notice of any grown man." IS'ow it \vas shown before, that at the rate of eleven bushels per acre, twenty-live mil-^ lion bushels would be a fair average crop tor 1860. At the rate of twenty bushels per acre, it must be over forty-live million bushels. AVhencc Ave arrive at the astounding conclusion, that in one single year the State saves upon one single crop the value of twenty mil- lion bushels of wheat, through the absence of certain tiny creatures, not one of which is so big as a grain of rice. Taking the average of years, we may safely assume that a fifth part of the wheat crop — or, which is the same thing, a quantity equal to one-fourth of what we actually do harvest — is destroyed by insects. Even at the low price, therefore, of seventy -live cents per bushel, we have over four and a half million dollars' ivorthoi wheixi annually destroyed by "little vermin which it is not worth our while to notice." Bat this is not all. Other crops are damaged by other insects, though not generally to so ruinous an extent ; so that we cannot put the whole annual damage done by insects to the State of Illinois at less than twenty ishllion dollars. These tacts may appear trite and obvious to some, but that they cannot possibly be generally realized by our citizens is proved by the very circumstances under which I am now writing. Plere is a great and Avealthy State, sustaining annually a loss of twenty mil- lion dollars, and to him who furnishes the best suggestions for di- minishing this loss is offered the sum of twenty-five dollars. It is exactly as if a manufacturer, who was annually losing eight thou- sand dollars throuo^h the dishonesty of his hired men, was to offer to any detective officer who could put him on the track of the rogues the munificent premium of one cent. Throughout the whole length and breadth of the United States, there is at present but one man — Dr. Asa Fitch, the State Entomol- ogist of New York — sj^ecially engaged in investigating the habits of noxious insects, and experimenting on the best methods of coun- terworking them. I3ut the number of noxious insects is enormous, and it is beyond the powers of any one man, or any ten men, to at- tend to them all. Dr. Fitch has commenced cataloguiuo; and de- scribing the noxious insects found in his own State, and they already amount to three hundred and sixty, although, as he himself says, the list is quite incomplete. His five "Reports," published at the expense of the State of New York, contain a vast amount of val- uable information, so far as they go. But it so happens that many of the noxious insects of Illinois are southern and not northern 151 species ; and if we wait until tliey come under the personal notice of northern entomologists, we shall wait a very long time indeed. For example, Dr. Fitch tells us that in the whole course of his en- tomological career of twenty-live years, he n:iet with but three chinch- bugs in Kew York ; and Dr. Harris was more unfortunate still, for in the State of Massachusetts he only found one poor solitary spe- cimen up to the day of his death. It would take a good arithme- tician to count the chinch-bngs to be found in Illinois. In the renuirks which i am now abont to olfer, I can make no pretension to any special investigation of the habits of the noxious insects of Illinois, and of the most othcient modes of destroying each individnal species. To do this would require a long series of laborious observations and experiments, continued through several years ; and while there are so man}^ unexplored iields in science open to the student, it is not likely that any man will gratuitously devote liimself to a matter of dry practical detail, involving no dis- covery of new principles, but simply the practical application of old and well known discoveries. The days are past — if indeed they ever existed — when a Curtins Avas always to be found to im- molate himself for the good of his country. The most that I can do, will be to develop general views of the Natural History of In- sects — some of them as old as the hills, some, I believe, original — and to suggest methods by which those general views may be prac- tically applied to keeping within due bounds such insects as are in- jurious to our crops. JN"othing but actual experiment can determine the practical value of these suggestions. Calculating from several distinct bases, I estimate that there are about thirty thousand distinct species of insects found within the limits of the United States — probably about ten tinies the number of all our other animals put together. Of this enormous amount, about one-fourth are insects of prey — or cannibals — specially ap- pointed by an All-wise Providence to keep the other three-fourths within due bounds. It is not meant that out of one hundred in- sects, indiscriminatel^y captured, twenty-live will be cannibals, be- cause it is not so. Carnivorous species are always less numerous in individuals than the tribes upon which they live, for the simple reason that if there was a hawk to every pigeon, the hawk would catch the pigeon and then starve ; if there was a wolf to every deer, the wolf would catch the deer, and then he too would starve. What is asserted is, that out of one hundred distinct species of in, sects, captured indiscriminately, nearly one-quarter will be canni- bals. And cannibals they ai-e called with great justice ; for, although the ]ioets tell us that tiger will not prey upon tiger, nor lion upon lion, and that man is the only animal that makes war upon his own species, yet many cannibal insects will kill and devour their own kind. Some of them, it may be observed, prey generally and in- discriminately upon other insects, and some, again, confine them- selves to one particular species, or to one particular family. They may be properly divided into three great groups — 152 jTirst — Those which in the larva state hunt after their prey them- selves, as the great Carabus family, (ground-beetles,) comprising nearly a thousand species, already named and described, to be found within the United States; the' Ooccmella family, (lady-birds,) of which there are described about one hundred species; i\\Q LibeUula family, (dragon-flies,) nearly three hundred species, and a great- many other families, which it would be tedious to particularize. Second — Those which in the larva state confine themselves to cells or nests, constructed by the parent insect, and provisioned with the bodies of one or more insects, as food for the young larvae. The different families of digger-wasps, {Fossores^)^ of which there are, probably, one thousand'Korth American species, may be taken as examples. The common black and yellow mud-wasp, {Pelojmus lunatus, F.,) belongs to this group, although, like a species of Iry- pox]/lo7i and four distinct species of FompilidcB, which I possess, it constructs its nests above ground, of mud, and cannot, therefore, be strictly termed a digger. Third — Those which deposit their eggs in other living insects, the larvse proceeding from which feed on the bodies of those living insects, and eventually destroy them. The Great Ichneumon fam- ily, and four other closely allied families, having nearly the same habits, and which may be properly classed as Ichneumons, are in- stances in point. There are about three thousand distinct species of them, named and described, in Great Britain, and probably double that number will be found eventuall}^ in the United States. We read in books — and I can vouch for the fact from my own knowledge — that there are even ichneumon-flies which make other ichneumon-flies their special prey, thus forming check upon check. Spiders, as we all know, prey upon insects ; and it is a species of spider that is selected by the common mud-wasp to provision its nest; but lest the mud-wasps, on the other hand, should become unduly numerous. Providence has created a large species of ich- neumon-fly, which deposits its egg in the larva of the mud-wasp, from which I have myself bred them. So the spider preys upon flies and other insects, the mud-wasp preys on the spider, and the ichneumon-fly preys on the mud-wasp ; each in its appointed j^lace and at its appointed time, carrying out the great law of nature, "kill and be killed, eat and be eaten." .» So skillfully is the whole system balanced and adjusted — a check here and a check there, and a counter-check upon both in another place — that in a state of nature, such as exists in our woods and forests, it is only in some special seasons, and in certain special lo- calities, that a particular insect becomes unduly numerous. For instance, in 17*^1, and again in 1853, the palmer worm stripped the forests and orchards bare throughout the State of New York and the whole of New England, "as if they had been scorched with flre," to use T)y. Fitch's expressive language. Yet during all the intervening and succeeding years it was never observed in any ex- traordinary numbers. / y But the necessities of civilization do not allow tlie face of the earth to remain, as a general thing, in a state of nature. Nature intended that plants of various kinds should grow mixed up to- gether, mutually controlling and checking one another, and mutu- ally, too, beneliting one another ; for the poisonous secretions of one plant may form the healthful food of another. But civilized man iinds it convenient to have all his wheat grow in one iield, all his corn in another, and all his turnips in a third ; and the plants that oSTature intersperses among these crops — thus following out her original plan, so far as she is allowed — he ruthlessly cuts down and denominates "weeds." Every western farmer must have noticed how rapidly, in a favorable season, the chinch-bug overspreads a wheat Held. Now if the same number of wheat plants had been scattered ]n-omiscuously over a townshij) of land, mixed up with several hundred other species of plants, it must be obvious that this insect could not increase with near such rapidity, because its appropriate food would not be always ready to its mouth. On the same principle, a lot of hogs, that would thrive and multiply if they had daily fed to them a bushel of shelled corn on one single spot of ground, would starve if the same quantity of corn, was scattered over the whole county, and they-had to pick it up for a living.'^* Again, nature intended that every plant should stand undis- turbed, and pertect its seed where she has herself placed it, and that part of that seed should fall on the ground, part be devoured by the fowls and insects of the air, and part be gathered by the In- dian ; just as at this very day, the red Indian gathers his wild rice by hand on the head waters of the Mississippi. But instead of this, the natural process, civilized man, after having compelled his wheat to grow all in one tleld by itself, so soon as it is ripe cuts it all oiF even with the ground and carts it into his barn, straw and all ; thus, no doubt, carrying off and destroying the eggs of many cannibal insects, and interfering generally with the wise arrange- ments of nature. Now it is universally the case, that whenever man, by his artificial arrangements, violates great natural laws, unless by some artificial means he can restore the overturned balance, he pays the penalty affixed to his offense. The voluptuary may overload his stomach, but, unless he has recourse to his dinner pill, he pays the penalty of an indigestion. So with the farmer and the horticulturist. Un- til they can restore the natural equilibrium which has been disar- ranged by their artificial processes, they pay the penalty in the damage inflicted on them by plant-feeding insects. They must as- sist nature, whenever, for necessary purposes, the}^ have thwarted and controlled her, if they wish to appease her wrath. If these views be correct, it would seem to follow, as a necessary * This point has been well developed by Dr. Fitch, in his annual address before the New York Agricultural Society, 1859, with a copy of which he has been kind enough to favor me. —17 consequence, that one of luu most eifectnal means of controlling noxious insects is to be found in the artificial propagation of such caniiihal species as are naturally designed to prey on them. "We must light fire with fire, and use one nail to drive out another. Cats are bred all over the world to prevent rats and mice from becoming unduly numerous; ferrets are bred for the same purpose in Europe, and are found very useful. Every sportsman knows that different Itreeds of dogs are employed in hunting down and catching various kinds of wild animals. In all these cases man sets a quadruped to catch a quadruped. There can be no good reason given why he should not also set an insect to catch an insect. The idea of proj)- agating cannibal insects artificially, may at first seem startling, but fifteen years ago, if any man had proposed the artificial propagation of fish, it would have startled the world just as much. And yet, nowadays, this is a regular business, not only in France, where it was first invented, but even in the New England States. Bees and silkworms have been bred artificially for centuries, and the Mexicans raise annually, by a most elaborate process, a million pounds of cochineal, each pound containing, according to an exact calculation of Humboldt's, seventy thousand distinct insects. En- tomologists, too, are in the constant habit of breeding insects of all kinds, partly for the sake of studying their habits, and partly for the sake of becoming acquainted with their transformations. Now if naturalists do. this on a small scale, in the interests of science, there can be no physical reason why it should not be done by oth- ers, on a large scale, in the interests of agriculture. There can be no physical reason why it should not be just as common to send to the insect-breeder for a box of dragon-fiies, or an ounce of the best inchneumon-flies, as it now is to send to the druggist for a pound of Spanish flies or a quarter of an ounce of cochineal. It is perfectly true, as every entomologist is aware, that it is generally more difficult to breed cannibal insects than plant-feeders. But so is it more difficult to breed insect-eating birds than grain- eating birds; and yet experience has taught bird-fanciers how to do it successfully. Even among the plant-feeding insects, every one who has had much practice on the subject knows that there are certain species and certain families which are hard to breed by the ordinary methods. But every now and then some successful experimenter discovers a peculiar method of treating them, which removes all the difficulty before experienced. The gigantic cater- pillar of the death's head moth, {Acherontia atropos,) is well known to European entomologists to be hard to raise to maturity, yet I was acquainted with an English dealer in insects, who, by a pecu- liar process, always succeeded in so doing. Many North American hawk-moths, {Sp/iingidce,) are similarly troublesome to breed; yet I have ^recently had communicated to me by Mr. Wm. H. Edwards, the New York Lepidojiterist, a most original method of treating them, which he has practiced for two years with uniform success. If a thousandth part of the time and money expended in breeding 155 race-horses had been expended in Lreediuginsects, there v;onkl pro- bably be now little practical difficnltj in raising any species what- ever to maturity. Although, so far as I am aware, cannibal insects have never yet been bred for utilitarian purposes, yet it is by no means an uncom- mon practice to collect such as are found at large in the woods and fields, and apply them to subdue some particular insect that is an- noying us. Thus, for a long series of years, the larvai of lady- birds, [CoccineUidcc'^) and of lace-wing flies, {Ileinerohiidui) have been employed by European gardeners to destroy plant-lice, which they do most eflectually. The nest of our American bald-faced hornet is occasionally suspended in a house to kill ofl' tlie house- flies ; and I was informed by a young lady who teaches school, that she once turned a dragon-fly loose in her school room for the same purpose, and that, as I can readily believe, the experiment was per- fectly successful. We are also told by Kuhn," "that six or eight specimens of Pentaioma bidens^ [a European bug, closely allied to the large stinking bua-s, often noticed on blackberries, &c., in the Uuited States,] shut up in a room swarming with the bed-bug for several weeks, completely extirpated the latter." And M Bois- gerard,f states, "that having placed some female Calosoma?, [a beetle of theCarabus family,] upon trees greatly infested with the caterpillars of Bombyx dispar, the larv£e of the Calosomas were found in the following season in the nests of the caterpillars, and that in the course of two or three years the trees were cleared." The bird known by the name of the English Pheasant — although it is not, in reality, a species indigenous to England — is artificially propagated there in enormous numbers, for sporting purposes. Groves of timber are planted purposely to aflbrd them shelter — buckwheat is sown solely for the sake of providing them with ap- propriate food in winter — and a whole army of game-keepers is maintained to make war on pole-cats, weasels, hawks, owls, and other predaceous animals, whether biped or quadruj^ed, which nature has appointed to prevent such birds from becoming unduly numerous. The consequence is, that on the estates of many no- blemen, pheasants may be seen any day walking about as plentiful as common fowls in a farm yard. Suppose, now, instead of pheas- ants, we wished to multiply, artificially, the number of a particular species of dragon-fiy, or snake-feeder^ as it is absurdly called in this country. "We know, to begin with, that the female dragon-fly lays a very great number of eggs, and that the larvaj live in the water, generally in stagnant water,:}: and are cannibals like the full-grown *Quoted in Westwood's Introduction, 11, page 486. f Ibid, I, page 66. J Authors lay it down as a rule that the Libellulina are confined to stagnant water ; but I possess an undescribed species of Gomphus, allied to G. noiatus, Rambur, the lar- VcC of which occurs in the Mississippi. I am enabled to state with certainty that this species is undescribed, because Dr. Ilagen, the great Prussian Xeuroptcrist, has kindly favored me with a copy of the first two volumes of the magnificent work on the Libel- lulina now in course of publication by him and M. Selys de Longchamp df Belgium. 156 insects. All that would be necessary, therefore, would be to pro- vide a suitable pond of water, which the ordinary operations of na- ture will soon lill with a host of plant-feeding larva?, and to take projier measures to keep out frogs, geese, ducks, certain water beetles {Di/ticidce) and other pre-eminently rapacious insects. The 3'onng drai!:on-flies would then l)e placed precisely in the situation of the English pheasants — good shelter, plenty of food and no enemies to destroy them. And the result would be that they would increase with a rapidity which we may easily estimate from the consideration, that a pheasant lays about a dozen eggs, and a dragon-fly, several hundred. This, or something approaching to this — the conditions of the process being, of course, varied, according to the peculiar habits of the species operated upon — would be the method to be taken with the first great group of cannibals above referred to, most ot which are general feeders. In the case of the other two groups, however, the tlifliculty would be greater, for the simple reason that so far as our very limited knowledge on the subject extends, many of them are confined to feeding on some particular species of insect, and cannot exist upon any other. For example, the minute Ichueu- mon-liy {Eurytoma destructor^ Say,) which was observed more than forty years ago by Thomas Say, to be parasitic on the Hessian-fiy, has not hitherto, I believe, been noticed to be parasitic on any other species of insects. In order to breed this Ichneumon, there- fore, we should, in the present state of our knowledge, be obliged first to breed Hessian flies, which would involve the destruction of a corresponding quantity of wheat or other small grain. Thus, to mend one hole we should make another; and should be much in the situ- ation of a lady who raised a colony of mice purposely to feed out to her young kittens. There is some reason, however, to think that a more accurate investigation of the habits of these interesting insects will show us, that they are not so much confined to jDarticu- lar species as is generally supposed ; and that most of them prey indiscriminately upon two or more closely allied species. Simi- larly amongst the plant-feeders, the Capricorn beetle, ( Ulytxis pictus^ Drury,) which is so rapidly destroying the locust trees in the east- ern part of this State, must have confined itself originally to our indigenous walnuts, as is manifest from the well known fact that the locust is not indigenous but imported.* It is not generally known that several of our most noxious in- sects are themselves not indigenous but imported. The house-fly, there can be little doubt, was originally introduced in ships, which, in the summer, . always swarm with them ; and it is a curious fact that we have in a similar manner supplied the South Sea Island- *In September, 1860, I noticed swarms of this pretty species at Jacksonville, at Blooniinf^ton, and at LaSalle, and heard much complaint of their ravages. In the same month, I took two specimens near Rock Island. In 1858 and 1859, I met with but one solitary individual near Rock Island, which I split out of a billet of fire wood. K^ 151 ers with our American mosquito. The bark louse again, which in 1855, was confined to the immediate vicinity of Lake Michigan, but which has now worked its way westward to the Mississippi, is identical with the European species; and has doubtless been intro- duced from Europe, where it is comparatively harmless. The Hes- sian-fly was imported from Germany in 1776, in some wheat straw shipped fur the use of George Ill's Hessian mercenaries, and has done us a hundred times the damage in dollars and cents, that the royalist troops ever inflicted upon us from one end to the other of the war of the Revolution. The wheat midge was imported about 18:20-28 — probably from England, where it is sometimes rather troublesome. And not to mention minor pests, a European leaf- eating beetle {Galenwa cahnariensis) has for years been destroying the ornamental elm trees in the city of Baltimore and its vicinity, wJience, no doubt, if not checked by artiflcial means, it will in pro- cess of time extend itself over a considerable portion of the United States, It generally happens that when a noxious insect is accidentally im])orted into the country, the cannibal species appointed by a wise Providence to keep it in check are not imported along with it. Eor example, there are three small Ichneumon-flies, that prey on the wheat-midge in England, and not one of them has yet found its way to this country. There was an account, indeed, quite re- cently, in a Canadian paper, of such an insect having been discov- ered in Canada; l)ut supposing even that this is correct, at the aver- age rate at which imported insects progress — about thirty miles a year — it will take thirty years before it gets to Illinois; and in the meantime our farmers are losing annually enormous stims of mo- ney for the want of it. In England, on the contrary, where the midge is kept within due bounds by its three parasites, the great- est damage that I can find on record as having been done by this insect, is the destruction of one-tweniietli (! !) of the crop, which is recorded by Kirby & Spence as a very extraordinary event ! ! JSow whatever we may think of the idea of artificially propagating cannibal insects— and however visionary we may choose to pro- nounce all such schemes — it must be evident that in such a case as this, where it is a question not of artificial propagation, but of artificial introduction, the parasites ought to be imported at the public expense. There is the antidote, on the other side of the Atlantic; here is the bane, right in the midst of us. If you wish to be healed, stretch out j'our hand and take hold of the medicine. One tiling at all events is certain: out of noiJiiiig comes nothing' and if notliing is attempted, nothing will ever be accomplished. Before I conclude, I wish to ofter a few remarks more especially applicable to three or four of our most noxious insects. 158 THE HESSIAN FLY. It a curious fact that for many years back the Hessian fly has done but very little damage in the eastern States. Yet it has not been extirpated there; for Dr. Fitch informs us that specimens may occasionally be met with in wheat fields in New York. What then is the reason that it should have ceased to be troublesome in the east, and still continue troublesome in the west? There can be no rational cause assigned but the presence in the east of four distinct species of parasitic flies, which prey npon it so extensively there that, according to Mr. Herrick, of Connecticut, they destroy nine out of every ten. It is possible one or more of these parasites may exist in Illinois; but the presumption rather seems to be that they have not yet reached us. It would be very desirable that some competent person should examine into this point; and that if the slow processes of nature have not yet furnished ns with the nat- ural check upon the Hessian -fly, artificial means should be imme- diately employed to introduce it amongst ns. "Whether any or all of these four parasites of the Hessian-fly have been imported from Europe, or whether — which seems the more probable supposition — they are indigenous insects which have permanently acquired new habits, is a question of very great scien- tific interest, but practically, perhaps of minor importance. It cer- tainly does seem very remarkable that of the two allied insects, the Hessian-fly and the wheat-midge, the former should have been attacked by no less than four Ichneumons within sixty years of its importation, and the latter although it has been imported about forty year^, should not as yet have been attacked by a single species. Although the Hessian-fly belongs to the same "genus, {Cecido- myia,) as the wheat-midge, yet it dili'ers remarkably from that insect and most of its congeners, in being donMe-ljrooded^ or having two distinct generations produced every year; the eggs of the one being- deposited in the spring of the year, and of the other in the fall, upon the winter wheat. It must be obvious, therefore, that if no winter grain were m-own anywhere in the State, the insect would be soon starved out; and this is no doubt the reason that, m the north of Illinois, where the farmers have very generally given up growing winter wheat, we hear scarcely anything of it. Pasttiring winter wheat, infected with the Hessian fly, very closely with sheep, has always been considered the best remedy, the sheep biting so close that they eat the insect along with the green stem on which it is located. A correspondent of the Illinois Prairie 1^'armer states that in the years 1856-7 he pastured a piece of infected wheat very close indeed with cattle — so close that his neighbors thought he had ruined it — and yet reaped a fair crop from it after all. 159 THE APPLE TREE BORERS. Dr. Fitch, speaking of the striped borer {Sajyerda himttata, Say.) says that a certain preventive is "to rub the bark of the trees -with soap, the Latter part of May, each year," and that "he had applied it to a part of his trees and omitted it from others, and in the fol- lowing spring had found young borers in almost every tree where the soap had not been applied, whilst not one could be detected in any of the soaped trees." This is the exjperimentmn crueis of Ba- con, and appears to settle the question as to this insect. It is a pity all experiments with insects are not carried out upon an equally satisfactory footing. In the State of Illinois our apple trees appear to be more troubled by the Chrysohotkris femovata than by the Saperda hivittata^ which I have never met with near Rock Island. The former insect at- tacks not only the trunJcs of apple trees, but also small linibs^ only three-quarters of an inch in diameter. The place where this borer has been at work may frequently be recognized by a slight scratch, crossways of the limb, looking just as if it had l)een made by the claw of a cat. I presume that this is the spot where the parent in- sect deposited its eggs, but as it has a fresh appearance, even when the insect underneath it is nearly mature, it is probably used also by the larva to get rid of a portion of its castings. "Whether soap is as effectual a remedy against the Chrysohotkris as against the tScvperda, remains to be proved. THE CURCULIO. !N'o ichneumon-fly preying upon the curculio has ^^et been dis- covered in the United States; but there exists such an insect in Canada, discovered within the last twelve months, and Dr. Fitch has figured and described it as the Curcidio Parasite, {Sigaljihus curculionis.) I have taken a Phanerotoma near Eock Island, very closely resembling it, paid of another closely allied genus I pos- sess Cheloniis sericeus, (Say,) and nine smaller species, but upon what insect these ichneumon-flies are j^arasites, I have no know- ledge whatevei. "Whether the curculio causes the "black knot" in plum trees or not, it is an undoubted fact that it h'eeds in the "black knot," and, therefore, every piece of it that can be found should be carefully burnt, if we wish to diminish the numbers of this pest. It is a well established fact that where plum trees overhang water, the curculio will not deposit its eggs in the plums. It has also been stated, though the fact does not rest upon ec|ually good authority, that the same result follows if the ground under the plum trees is paved with flat stones, or even tramped very hard. The reason seems to be that the insect foresees that its larvae will re- C[uire to burrow into the earth as soon as they leave the fruit and 160 avoids those trees wliicli have not moderately soft earth underneath them. Paving the ground, hovrever, under fruit trees, would pro- bably injure their growth, and the same end might ]>erhaps be attained, without injuring the trees, by erecting a platform of boards round every tree, at a suitable distance from the surface of the earth. But here, again, as in so many other cases, experiments are needed. THE ClllXCn BUG. These skunks of the insect world are neither one-brooded, like the wheat midge, nor two-brooded, like the llessian-Hy, bul many- brooded, like the common house-fly. That is to say, there are several generations of them produced every year, for they are found, in the larva state all through the summer, and even as late as Oc- tober; and, like the house-fly, they Jiyhernate, or pass the winter in the pei'fect state. I have always found them abundant in moss in the winter months, and I have occasionally noticed them under logs, etc., at the same season. There can be little doubt but that on a farm they chiefly hybernate in the old tutts of grass and dead weeds which are allowed to accumulate near fences ; for it is alwavs on the outside edge of a piece of wheat that they commence their depredations. Moreover, twenty years ago, when Illinois was thinly settled, and the prairie flres swept annually over the greater portion of its surface, we heard nothing of the chinch bug, proba- bly because the fire used to destroy most of them in their winter quarters. Wherever worm fences have been replaced by board fences, it would be found a very useful precaution to burn annually along them in the winter. A single cliincli-bug thus destroyed, might, if left alone, become the parent of fifty thousand. Hot dry weather is required tor the rapid multiplication of this insect, and a heavy shower of rain checks them immediately. When they are leaving the wheat at harvest time, and going on to the corn, it might perhaps, in some cases, where water was conven- ient, be a paying operation to pour a little upon every hill of corn that stood within a moderate distance of the wheat. But the most effectual method is to plow the wheat stubble as soon as ever the wheat is cut, as deeply as can be conveniently done ; by which op- eration a great many of the perfect insects, and probably all their eggs — which appear to be deposited close to the surface of the ground, or a little underneath it, at the root of the plant — will be buried never to rise again. It has been generally said that there is no insect which depre- dates on the chinch-bug. I have reason to believe that there are no less than foub distinct species which do so. On the 19th of last September, having received from St. Paul, Minnesota, a sj)e- cimen of Ips quadrisignata^ (Say,) with a statement that it was destroying a great deal of sweet corn in that vicinity, and knowing that this insect was tolerably abundant near Eock Island, I exam- 161 ined a large j)atcli of sweet corn in the field of one of our market gardeners, to see if I could detect it there. I did not find it, al- though I carefully opened about fifty ears; but underneath the husks of almost every one I noticed, as is quite usual, one or more chinch-bugs, some in the perfect state, and some in the pupa, and I also noticed, to my great surprise, quite a number of specimens of four very common species belonging to the lady-bird (or Cocci- nella) family, all the known American species of which are canni- bals. With the exception of the chinch-bugs and a few individuals of a smaller and closely allied species of bug, {Antliocoi'us pseiido- chinche^ Fitch,) — which has frequently been mistaken for the true chinch-bug although it is not half its size and is shaped very differ- ently — there were no other insects under the corn-husks. The idea at once occurred to me that these lady-birds were depredating upon the chinch-bugs ; and I was confirmed in this opinion upon finding a pupa, which was evidently that of some Coccinellide, pro- bably C. inunda, (Say,) in the same situation. ]Now since the pupa was there, the larva must also have lived there, for it is not the habit of these larvse to get into holes and corners to complete their trans- formations; and if the larva? lived there, there was nothing else for them to live on but the above mentioned two species of bug, the smaller of which never occurs in any great numbers like the larger and more mischievous chinch-bug. That the lady -birds were then and there jDreying upon chinch- bugs, I have but little doubt ; but it does not necessarih^ follow that the}' halitually prey upon chinch-bugs. They might have been driven to prey uponlhem for lack of more agreeable food ; as a cat Avill sometimes eat bread when she cannot obtain meat. jSTothing but actual experiment and observation can determine the truth in this matter. Authors, copying from one another, generally lead us to suppose that the Coccinella family feeds exclusivel}' upon the difterent spe- cies of plant-lice. That this is the case with many of our Korth American species, is undoubtedly true ; for I have myself bred four species which had that habit. On the other hand Mr. Eob. Ken- nicott discovered CJdlocoi^s stigma, (Say,) preying both on the com- mon l)ark-louse of the apple and on the bark-louse of the pine, {Asjmlioiiis ^^w/zybZz'ce, Fitch.) In the spring of 1860 I found numerous specimens of a nine-spotted lady-bird [Coccinella no- ve7nnotaia, Herbst, ) under dry cow-dung along with many of their orange-colored eggs ; and although there was a variety of other insects there, there was no appearance of any plant-lice. And lastly, in the summer of 1S60 I discovered swarms oi Tlippo- clariiia maculata, (DeGeer,) preying on a species of bark-louse, which differed only from the common species [A. conchiformis) in having hright red instead of v:/iite eggs, and in infesting not the apple tree but a species of willow, {/Salix nigra, Marshall.*) What * For the determination of this species I am indebted to mj friend M. S. Bebb, Esq., who has paid particular attention to the very difficult family of willows. 162 is especially remarkable is that tlie very species which was thus in the summer detected preying on a bark-louse was one of the four which in the fall was to all appearance preying on the chincli-bng. Of these four enemies of the chinch-bug two are quite small and obscurely colored insects, belonging to the genus Scymnus^ and might easily be confounded with a great variety of other beetles of entirely dirf'erent habits by the inexperienced in such matters. It will be sufKcient, therefore, to state that the larvae of this genus are described by Dr. Harris as "clothed with short tufts or Hakes of the most delicate white down," and by Westwood as "entirely clothed with a white cottony secretion." If any such larvse are noticed amongst chinch-bugs hereafter by amateurs, it may be known what they are doing there. The two other enemies of the chinch-bug are conspicuous insects, and with the assistance of a figure may be readily identified by any person that has got two eyes in his head. They occur profusely in summer on all kinds of weeds, tall grass, shrubs, etc., and may be captured in any re- quired numbers by simply beating the weeds, etc., backward and forward with a hoop of stout wire fastened to a staff and having a cloth bag sewn on to it. As fast as taken from the bag they may be dropped into a large bottle having an open quill running right through its cork, and filled loosely with leaves ; and they may af- terwards be emptied out upon any crop infested with chinch-bugs, amongst which they would, in all probability, deposit a copious supply of their eggs. It is to the larvae proceeding from these eggs that we should look for the greatest amoignt of benefit ; for the per-8ct lady-birds eat comparatively but little, while the larvae are arrant gormandizers. Below will be found a figure and a short description of these two insects : 12 8 Figure 1st represents Hippodamia maculata^ (DeGeer,) magni- fied, the adjacent line exhibiting its natural length. The colors are black and a bright blood-red, almost verging upon pink. The red in all the other species of lady-birds with which I am acquaint- ed is not hlood-red but hrick-red. Figure 2nd represents Coccinella munda^ (Say,) magnified, with aline showing its natural length. The colors are black, white, and light brick-red. It is the only species I know that has its wing- cases red vmhout any hlack spots at all. Figure 3rd is copied from Westwood, and is the larva of a Eu- ropean species of lady-bird. There is a general resemblance amongst the larvas of all the Coccinellas, and their colors are mostly brown-black with bufi" spots. The larvae of No. 1 and No. 2 I have 163 never bred, but presume they do not difl'er materially from those of some other North American species, which I have bred, and ■which come very close to tlie fio-nre. It is only necessary to add, in conclusion, that the lady-birds {Cocchiellidce) may be dictinguished from other beetles by having only three joints to their feet m&iQudi oi foiir ov five. The only family of beetles M'hich agrees with them in this peculiarity {Endo- mycJiidce) consists of a very small number of species, all of them quite rare. BEXJ. D. WALSH. Rock Island, January 3, 1861. THE ARMY-WORil AND ITS INSECT FOES— THE REMEDY. The practical result of the following pages may be expressed in very few words : Burn your tame grass meadoios over annually .^ in the dead of the yeai\ and get your neighbors to do the same^ and you ivill never more he troubled icith the army-worm. But there is a large class of farmers who have been fooled so re- peatedly by quack prescriptions and powders Pimperlimpimp, war- ranted to kill every biio; on the farm if you only scatter a few i;-rains in the four corners of every field, that they have lost all faith m the possibility of counterworking to any good purpose their insect enemies. There is also another laro;e class amongst the agricultu- ral community, who, although they might be disposed to believe in a remedy recommended by good scientific authority, are yet laudably desirous to understand the principle upon which that rem- edy works. Such men read and think, as well as work and over- see. They do not know much, perhaps, of Natural History, but the}' do not consider it beneath the dignity of man to study the handiwork of God, however microscopically minute that handiwork may be ; and, therefore, they are not too proud to listen to minute descriptions of the habits and instincts of insects, and especially of such as are injurious to their crops. It is for the use of these two classes of men that I have drawn up the following imperfect sketch of the Natural History of the Illinois army-worm. The reader will thus be enabled to judge for himself whether the remedy I have in- dicated be in reality a remedy, or whether it be one of those quack nostrums, generalized from a solitary experiment, which ignorant pretenders are constantly obtruding upon the agricultural world; just as the charlatan, having given a dose of calomel on the same day to a shoemaker and a tailor, and having found that it salivated the former but had no efiect upon the latter, announced with great pomp, in a medical journal, that mercury salivated shoemakers, but produced no result whatever on the constitutions of tailors. But first let me explain what facilities I have enjoyed for exe- cuting this task. Through the liberality of the Rock Island and Chicago, and the Illinois Central Railroads, in granting me a free pass, as a member of the Illinois Natural History Society, IGJt over llieir roads, I was enabled to start the middle of last June for an entomological excursion, of four or five weeks, into the extreme southern point of Illinois. Stopping on my way at Bloomington, I collected there about sixty armj'-worms, which, as soon as I ar- rived at my destinatioii, I transferred to a suitable breeding cage, and watched through their transformations. I also took every op- portunity, l)oth while traveling on the cars and while "collecting" in the country, to gather up and note down all the information on the subject I could get; and I am indebted also for many valuable hints, to sundry articles which have appeared in the Illinois Prairie Farmer. I make no pretension to having occupied the whole or even a large part, of my time, while resident in the South, in this task. In a scientific point of view, the army-worm is no more in- teresting than any one of the four or five thousand species of moths that are found within the limits of the United States. There is nothing unusual, nothing mysterious, nothing abnormal about it. But I always hate to give nothing for something, and having been obliged by the railroad companies, I endeavored, to the extent of my poor abilities, to return the obligation, by seeking a remedy for a little pest, that has this year destroyed one-fourth part of the tame hay grown within tbe limits of the State. THE AKMT-WOKM LAEVA. FIG. I. Like all other insects, the army-worm takes its origin from an Qg2,, generated by the perfect insect when arrived at the winged, or imago, state. Like other insects, too, the mother takes good care to deposit her eggs in the precise locality, where instinct teaches her that they will remain in safety until they are hatched, and where the young larva, as soon as it is hatched, will have at hand a copious supply of its appropriate food. Such a locality is found in the stalks of perennial grasses, such as timothy, blue grass and red top, as near as may be to the root, where the egg will be pro- tected from the severe frosts of winter by the old dead leaves which accumulate there. For, as we shall afterward see, the egg is de- posited in June or July, and lies dormant until the following spring. In Southern Illinois, as I learn from my friend and co-laborer, Mr. Cyrus Thomas, the egg hatches out about the middle of April ; in Central Illinois it must be about a month later, judging from the growth of the specimens I obtained at Bloomington. Four or five weeks may be given as about the time that it takes the newly hatched larva to arrive at its full larva growth ; and it is in this state only that it forces itself upon the attention of the farmer by devouring his meadows, sometimes so completely as to kill the whole field dead, j^ot only the leaves, but the heads, and even a portion of the stalks are eaten ; and I was informed by a lad, who resides near Tamaroa, that fields of red top grass attacked by them often seemed transformed into timothy, on a cursory view, each stalk being surmounted by a caterpillar, gnawing away at it, and looking like a head of timothy. So soon as food is beginning to be THE ARMY-WOKM IX ITS THREE STATES. Fig. 1 — Leucania unipuncta, (Haworth ;) larva state. Fig. 2 — Leucania unipuncta, (Haworth ;) pupa state. Fig. 3 — Leucania unipuncta, (Haworth ;) imago state. To face page 164. / 165 scarce, then is developed the instinct of traveling in large troops or armies in search of better quarters, from which the insect derives its popular name. This habit, however, is by no means peculiar to tills species, Init is found in many other insects — the locusts of Scripture and of modern Europe, for example, which belong to the family commonly known as grasshoppers in this country, and are altogether distinct from what is here popularly called a "locust." Those army-worms which I saw myself at Bloomington, were in a small patch of timothy, attached to a gentleumn's garden in the outskirts of that cit}^, and not being sufficiently numerous to more than eat up one-third part of the leaves, had never manifested any disposition to travel, althougli they were almost all full grown. I noticed that they had not attacked a blade of some wild prairie grass, which immediately adjoined the timothy. On the subject of their migrations, which I have never been fortunate enough person- ally to witness, I cannot do better than quote the words of B. , an accurate observer, hailing from Pesotum, 111., as recorded in the Prairie Farmer^ of July -ith, 18G1: "An army of them was observed to travel sixty yards in two hours, in an effort to go aroiuid a ditch. They Ijegan to travel from the infected districts between two and three o'clock, p. jr. Toward sundown tlie tide of travel was retrograde. They did not travel at niglit. Tliey fed chiefly at night and in tlie forenoon. As to their number, they have been seen moving from one field to anothei-, three tiers peep. A ditch has been filled with them to the depth of three inches i.v half ax hour." When they leave the meadows in which tliey originate, tliey travel on — sometimes as far as half a mile — until they meet with wheat, rye, oats, corn, sorghum, or Hungarian grass. Oats appear but very little to their taste, and they seldom damage them much; neither do they relish clover; corn they almost invariably destroy so as to necessitate its being replanted, which, as every farmer knows, involves a loss always of ten or lifteen bushels to the acre, and sometimes, when the season is unfavoraljle, of the entire crop. Of wheat, they generally devour nothing but the blades, which does not seem to injure, and in the opinion of s<»me farmers, benefits the crop by keeping off the "i-ust." I ascertained a most remarkable fact from Capt. Post, of Decatur, and on inquiry in Southern Illi- nois, found that the same thing had occurred there. In passing through a wheat field they devour bodily every spear of "chess" — not merely the leaves, but the stalk and the liead — and thereby actually confer a benefit on the farmer. For "chess," or "cheat," as it is sometimes called, is a species of grass, the seeds of which make the flour blue, and are peculiarly difficult to screen out, from their resembling in shape and weight a shrunken kernel of wheat. As an instance of the rapidity with which they work, Mr. Gilbert, of Yermilion county, states that "a friend of his having a piece of timothy near his house, (about one acre,) left home tor church about nine or ten o'clock, k. m. On returning home, after dining on the way, he found the whole piece had been riddled, and appeared as if lire had been over it;" and Mr. G. "W. Miller, of Indiana, states 1G6 that "he hears of their eating up twenty acres in a day very fre- quently."' Many instances are on record of the great difficulty with which they liave been kept out of houses which happened to lie in their path. Ditching has been extensively employed in Illinois to stop the ariny-worin in his travels; but it is necessary to make the further side of the ditch phimb, or a little undermining ; and even then, if the soil is stiff and clayey, so as not to crumble off when seized by the little claws of their feet, they contrive to climb the obstaclj. At the best, all that is thus eftected is to confine the damage to the meadows wdiere it originated, and prevent it from spreading into the cereal crops. But the most preposterous of all conceivable methods to stop the depredations of this insect upon wheat, is one which has been practiced by many farmers, and which is gravely stated by several of them to have been the means of saving the crop! They drag long ropes over the heads of the grain, thus causing all the worms to fall to the ground, as most kinds of plant-feeders will do when disturbed. They then jump to the conclusion that the Avorms will not climb up again to feed — which is much like supposing that a colt will not come back again to a pile of good oats after you have once driven him away — and having satisfied themselves on this point, they jump to the further conclusion that this sapient method of circumventing the army- worm was the cause of their getting good wheat ; whereas no fact is better established than that the army-worm did no injury to the wheat crop of 18G1 by passing through it, and that — rope or no rope — they would have had an equally good crop. It is certainly possible that if the blades of the wheat are pretty nearly consumed, this causing the caterpillars to fall to the ground simultaneously ma}^ start them on their travels. I was told by Col. Dougherty, that firing a cannon as often as two or three times, has a similar efi'ect. But what can be gained by causing them to shift their quarters from the wheat, which they actually benefit, to the corn, which they utterly ruin? There is an old Greek joke, more than two thousand years old, about a foolish fellow shaking the boughs of a tree to make the birds fall to the ground, so that he might catch them ; but this idea of shaking caterpillars to the ground, so that they may not dare to climb up again, is a trifle ahead even of Hie- rocles and his Facetiae. So little, indeed, are the laws of Natural History understood in this country, that, as I learn from Mr. Townsend Glover, the Ento- mologist of the,Mai*jland Agricultural College, " a naturalist, in a western paper, gravely states that this caterpillar may be vivipa- rous, and may give birth to living baby caterpillars, vrhich also, in due time, follow the great law of nature, and likewise become happy mothers to another caterpillar brood." Yes, and lambs may pro- duce lambs, and calves may generate calves, and little girls of five 3'ears old may be the mothers of fine thriving families. One event is every whit as likely, and every whit as possible, as the other. 167 As we might expect from the laws governirg the development of insect life, the army-worms make their appearance in noticeable numbers in different years in different parts of the State. I have no doubt that they exist in small numbers in every part of the State iromyear to year; for although they have never appeared till 18G1 in the neighborhood ot Rock Island, in such numbers as to attract attention, yet I myself captured a single specimen of the army- worm moth in Eock Island county, in each of the three years, '58, '50 and 'GO. At Okaw the}' are recorded to have appeared in 1850 ; in the south part of Vermilion county, in 1S35 ; and Mr. Joseph Brao^shaw, of Perrj' county, says that they visited that county in '25,^'26, '31, '39, 41 and '12. Colonel Dougherty, of Jones- boro, in Union county, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of Southern Illinois, informed me that about 1818 or '20 they were far more numerous there than in 1861, and that in 1861 there would not be a single cock of hay put up in his neighborhood save one micadow wliich was part clover and part timothy, and which I can myself testifj' was badly "patchy," there not being more than an eighth part of it which would turn out a good swarth of clover, the timothy being "nil" throughout. In 1838 again, according to the Colonel, there were but few of them. In 1812 they were about as in 1861 ; and in 1856 they occurred only in small numbers. Many suppose, from the analogy of the insect known as the sev- enteen year locust, that army-worms make their apjiearance only after the lapse of a certain definite number of years. But the cases are altogether different. The locust ( Cicada septemdecem^ Linn.) appears in one and the same neighborhood every seventeen years, because, strange as it ma}' seem, it takes exactly seventeen years, neither more nor less, for its larva to arrive at maturity in the bowels of the earth. But the army-worm goes through the whole cycle of its transformations in a few months, and what is to become of the breed during the years that intervene before the period of its next supposed advent ? People have puzzled their brains a great deal to explain why it appears in great numbers only in cer- tain years, as if there were some wonderful mystery in the circum- stance. Whereas, in reality, such periodical swarmings of partic- ular insects are some of those common and well understood occur- rences, which create no surprise whatever in the mind of any jSTat- uralist. I shall afterwards show how it happens that this particular in- sect swarms in certain years and is not noticed in others. I am almost ashamed to waste time in explaining what every child in the State ought to know ; but I have been proceeding throughout on the supposition that my readers know nothing of the suljject, and those who are better informed will understand perfectly well the policy of such a supposition. Fig. I. represents an army-worm, magnified to show clearly the peculiar arrangement of the stripes. The full description of these, as of other scientific details, uninteresting to the general reader, is 168 reserved for the appendix. It will be sufficient to say here that the larva is a rather dingy looking caterpilhir, striped with dirty white and duskv, and has a good deal the general appearance of the in- sect ]nost"connnonly known as "the cut-worm," dittering chieiiy in the absence of certain shining little black humps or dots, each of which in the various species oi "cut-worms" is armed with a hair. THE ARMY-WOKM PUPA. FIG. II. So soon as the army-worm has reached its full larva growth, like all the other species of butterflies and moths comprising the great order, Lepidoptera^ it casts its skin^ or properly speaking, the horny external skeleton to which all its muscles are attached, and assumes an entirely difl'erent shape, color and appearance. Ail the Lepidoptera, whether this state be prolonged for eight or nine months, or whether it only last a few weeks, lie dormant the whole time, and eat nothing ; and the army-worm is no exception to the rule. My specimens lay under ground about lifteen days, and all that I have known bred by others lay about the same time. The time, of course, varies with different species, each having its pecu- liar arrangements. In order to prepare for this change, like a o-reat number of the larvse of moths, it burrows under ground and by turning its body repeatedly arpund in the moist earth forms a' hollow cell within which the change takes place. Occasionally it scarcely penetrates beneath the surface, and forms a rude cell amongst the ch-y herbage at the roots of the grass on which it feeds. Fig^ II shows the insect in this stage of its development. As is almost universally the case with the pupse of moths, it is rounded at the head and pointed at the tail, the outlines and general appear- ance differing but slightly in the different species. Like most of them, too, it is of a shining mahogan}^ color, with the limbs wrap- ped up like a "baby in swaddling cloths," which is the meaning of the Latin term pupa — so strangely like the Indian p>apoose. It has a single thorn at the end of the tail, in which respect it agrees with all other Lepidopterous pupte with which I am acquainted, except that of a small undescribed Pyralide bred by me this year, which has a truncate tail with six thorns, like the pupa of Tahanus (horse- fly) among the Diptera. It is a curious fact, illustrating the gross ignorance on the sub- ject of Natural History which generally j^revails in this country, that a correspondent of a popular Agricultural Journal, referring to the army-worms going under ground, should have gravely an- nounced that "they are dying very fasti!" THE AKMY-WOEM MOTH. FIG. III. Having passed its appointed time in \hQ pupa state, the array- worm noAv sheds its horny skeleton once more, just as a lobster or a crawfish sheds its calcareous skeleton, and comes forth a winged muth or "miller," with no jaws fitted for mastication such as it for- merly possessed, but furnished in their stead with a long tongue 169 or proboscis — suited for sucking the sweet juices of flowers — wliich is curlud up when not at ue under the head. This suihlen change from a hltlvg larva to a siickhuj imago is characteiisiic of the Lepidu'ptera, and doe> not occur in anj other order (»f insecta. It is in this state alone, also, as with all other insicts, that its re- productive organs are fully developed; anupa, and the fully develo))etl man or womartj with deflnite sexiud peculiai'ities and perfect sexual powers, is aiv- alogous to the fully develoi)ed butterfly with all its sexual organs and sexual ]3ropenslties clained, I could notaflord to destroy a female so as to ascertain the precise nundicr (d'eggs; but from analogy I should put it at about two hundred. 'J he moths fly readily and strongly by daylight; at least they do so —18 170 ^hen they are disturbed; and I took a specimen by night in a building into which it was attracted by a brilliant light. They may therefore be clas?ed as seniidinrnal. Whether our Illinois army-worm be, or be not,Jdentical with the army-worm of the southern States, is a question yet to be solved. Until this current year nobody had any scientific know- ledge of the species I am now illustrating; and of the southern in- sect there is absolutely nothing whatever known with certainty. The probability is, that several distinct species have been con- founded under this popular name in the South, and that one of them is identical with our insect. It certainly is an encouraging sign of tlie j)rogress of entomological discovery in this State, that a noxious insect of prinuiry importance should have been, for the first time, traced through all its transformations in the year 1801 by no less tlian four citizens of Illinois to my certain knowledge — I refer to Mr. Cyrus Thomas of Murphysboro, Mr. Emery of the Prairie Farmer, Col. Dougherty of Jonesboro, and last and least myself. Hitherto we have been treading upon iirm ground. We are now approaching debatable territory. It will be noticed that I have assumed throughout that the army-worm moth deposits its eggs in June or July, and that those eggs lie dormant until the following spring. My friend Mr. Thomas thinks that these eggs, instead of lying dormant, hatch out some reasonable time after they are laid, and that from them arises a second brood of army-worms which passes the winter in the pupa state, the moths arising from which in the following spring lay the eggs which produce the well known May and June brood. This is confessedly the arrangement with several species of moths; whether it be so with the armj-worra can only be demonstrated by actual experiment, the time tor which has not yet transpired. The point is of the utmost j9/■«c^!^mZ im- portance ; for if the eggs of the army-worms of May and June are not laid till March or April, it would obviously be of no avail to burn over meadows in the winter, in order to destroy eggs which were not yet deposited there. I make no apology therefore for presenting the arguments on both sides at some length. Mr. Thomas says in a letter to me : "If the moth deposits her eggs on the grass, then the eggs must hatch before the winter, as this is too precarious a situation I think for nature to adopt, though many select leaves, etc." JS'ow the common web-caterpillar of the apple tree ( Clisiocampa Americana^ Harris,) assumes the moth state about the first of July and lays its eggs some short time after- wards in the well known cylindrical rings upon apple twigs. Yet although those' eggs are exposed on high to the heat of summer and the cold of winter, they do not hatch out till the following May, and they are never, that I have heard of, killed by the cold weath- er. I might quote other instances, but one such seems enough. It is but candid to add that originally, before I had closely looked into the matter, I inclined towards Mr. Thomas's opinion. The following are my reasons for thinking that it is impossible 171 that our species should be double-brooded — at least in Illinois; for certain species which are single brooded in the northern States are double-brooded down south : Jt'ird — They are never found in tame grass meadows the year after seeding; yet if the moth deposits her egg in the spi'ing, there can be no reason why she sh'^uld invai'iably select old meadows. This fact is well known, and I was assured of the truth uf it by Col. Dougherty. Second — They are scarcely ever found on wheat or rye, except where tame grass nieadows exist from which thev have traveled. Yet as the caterpillar eats rye and fall wheat greedilj', why should the moth, if she lays her eggs in the spring, pass over these crops? I inquired of a great number of farmers in the array-woi'm country, and they all agreed that wheat and rye were never taken except where there were meadows in the vicinity. It is but fair however to add that F. Beatty of Knox county, in the Prairie Fainier of June 27, states that the army-worm in his neighborhood ''in every instance lirst originated or appeared in a held of rye." I3ut per- haps Mr. Beatty was mistaken. Third — No man in the army-worm country ever heard of a se- cond brood of them making their appearance. I inquired ])artic- ularly of Col. Dougherty as to this point, and he said he had never known such a thing. Besides, what could such a second bi'ood find to eat, say in July or August? The tame grass and the oats and the wheat and the rye are all then cut, or at all events to tough and hard for the jaws of a youthful caterpillar ; and if they got on uncut grass or uncut grain, or even on the corn, they certainly could not escape notice at harvest time. fourth — As a general rule tlie group of moths to which the army-worm belongs (the NuctucB or owlet moths) are single-brooded. I cannot at present call to mind a single exception. Such are the grounds upon which I had based my conclusion; and before I leit Southern Illinois, I had already expounded to several of my friends the method of counterworking the arniy-worm which is based upon that conclusioi^, viz : burning meadows civer every winter to destroy the eggs. Judge of \x\^ surprise and grati- fication, then, when on going home in the cars I fell in with Mr. Kirkham, an intelligent produce buyer of Gallatin county, and learnt from him that what Lord Bacon would call a complete exper- imentum crucis of the truth of my theory had been accidentally tried in his own neighborhood. The case was this : Mr. Welling- ton Wood, of the same count}-, was burning brush heaps near his timothy meadow, and by chance letting the lire get away from him had one half of his meadow burned over, while the other half re- mained unburned. The latter portion was atterwaixls "coni])letely taken" by the worm; the former had no worms at all on it, and was saved without much ditficulty, by ditching between it a?id the infected district. Mr. Kirkham could not recollect the precise month when the 172 above occurrence took place, but as farmers do not burn brush- heaps in plowing time, it must have been sometime in the dead of the y«ar. It is hut right that I should add that I obtained these facts from Mr. Kirkluini before I expounded my theory to liim. Now if you still cling to the belief that the army-worin moth does not lay its eggs for the June crop till the spring, upon M-liat supposition can you explain the above facts ? Why should the moths have selected uniformly the unburnt timothy to lay their eggs on, and uniforndy have passed over the burnt portion, which would then be far more green and inviting ? The western naturalist above referred to as arguing that army- worms bred from army-worms, and not from moths, was led to adopt his strange theory from the circumstance of finding them abundant on one side of a brook, and entirely absent on the other. Such a case might be easily accounted for, on my theory, by sup- posing that tire had run into the meadow, and had been stopped by the brook. Mr. Glover himself says, "he has himself seen alarge clover and grass field, near Columbus, Georgia, which was divided by a wagon road into two parts, one side of which was entirely consumed by the grass worm, [a species of analogous habits to tlie army-worm, figured by Mr. Glover in an nnpublished plate kindly communi- cated to me,] while the other half was not touched." This re- markable phenomenon may be explained on the same liypolhesis. Mr. Glover hiniself shows why X\\q c^terjnllars did not cross the road, for he says ''it was colonized by thousands of ants, that seized every caterpillar that dared to cross their imaginary Mason and Dixon's line, dragged them to their nests or forts, and confiscated them to their own use as contraband of war?'' It is certainly possible that a few of the army-worm moths, in- stead of coming out at the normal time, in June or July, may lie in the pupa state till the following fall or spring. Nature makes such provisions for the permanent continuance of species with many of the Lepidoptera^ as, for example, with the Geometer^ or span-worm moth, cotnmonly known as the canker-worm, {Aotisojiteryx ver- nata^ Peck,) a few of which come out in the fall and winter, and the main bulk of them the next March. To quote a case more in point. Some years ago I bi"ed fifty or sixty of the common noc- t'j,rid(B,or owlet-moth, {Acronycta ohUnita, Guenee,) and I distinctly remember that some two or three of them came out in the moth state in the fall, and the remainder not till the following spring. But this is the exception and not the rule, and in a practical point of view can make little or no difierence in the case of the army- worm moth. It will be noticed that I lay no stress whatever upon the numer- ous assertions by unscientific men of the appearance of army-worm moths in large flocks in the spring of the year. There aie hun- dreds of moths which an ordinary observer could not distinguish from our insect, even if they were placed side by side; and one 173 witness, who is quite positive as to the identity ofliis "miller" with the Jifiny-worin moth, cleur-ly shows, «;nt ofhis own mouth, that he was mistaken, for he describes it as about ''Hkne quarters of an inch across the 'iolngsy Mr. T. Hull, of Bond county, recollects havinles apply also in the case of the army- worm, I have obtained from army-worm larvae no less than four distinct species of parasitic insects, which burrow into their living flosh and tinally occasion their death. All of these occurred in very large numbers, and in various parts of the State. I have also ob- tained two other distinct species, which are parasitic upon the par- asites, bnrrovving in turn into their flesh, and feeding upon their vitals. Wonderful as it may seem to those not familiar with the beautiful science of Natural History, there can actually exist three living aninuils, each moving, breathing and eating inside the bodies one of the other, the innermost one, of course, becoming the tri- umj^haiitsurvivi^r of his two living envelops. Nor is this anything unusual or abnormal — it is almost the everyday experience of every one who has paid much attention to the l)rceding of insects, and watt hing them through their transfoi-mations. But in so complicated a system, pai-asites preying upon and check- ing the army-worms, and secondary parasites preying upon and checking the primary ones, we might, a jy/'/t^r?', reasoiuibly expect that considerable fluctuations would occasionally occur. If, for example, from some peculiarities of weather, the ajipoarance of one of the primary parasites is delayed a few weeks in the spring of the year, the army woim will escape its attacks for that one sea- son and multiply far beyond the average. The same thing will happen if the secondary parasites have been more than usually nu- merous in the preceding season, so as to diminish the numbers of the primary ones. If, on the other hand, the primary parasites are unusually numerous, the army-worm v\-ill l)e diminished in num- bers beyond the average, and the same result will happen if the se- condary parasites have become unusually scarce. And this is the actual experience of farmers : in particular years army-worms swarm; in other years there is not one to l)e seen. So far from being astonished at such a result, the miracle would be, if each individual species of insect of the thirty thousand whicli exist in the United States, uniformly maintained the same exact numbers. The scheme of Nature may be compared to a vast system of vibrating springs, ir.terlacing and pressing upon one another in every direction. You cannot lighten the pressure of a sinij;le spring without reacting upon all the others, and occa- siotudly causing some one of them to fly upwards wiih a sudden jerk. And this is the actual experience (>f every collector of in- sects. Not a year elapses but several dozen insects, which in ordi- nary years are scarce, appear in great numt)ers. As to the question whether or not army-worms will occur in considerable numbers next year, within the limits of the State, it is impossible to arrive at atiy definite conclusion. If parasites worked on them everywhere as extensively as they did at Bloominirton, they could not abound, so as to do much injury, in 1862. But I can only give the statistics of their parasites for this single point, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY PARASITES OF THE ARMY-WORM. Tiff it. TiyS. ^^^^, K,^^- Tin. 6 Fig. Jf Fig. in Fig. 4- Fi.. 5- Fig. 6- Fig. p l-'ig. 8- Fig. 9- Fig. 10 Fig. 11 New species. Parasite of the Army-worm. New species. Parasite of the Army-worm. -Senometopia militaris. -Its puparium. -Pezomachus minimus. -Mass of its cocoons. -Chalcis albifrons. New species. Parasite of Pezomachus minimus. -Mesochorua vitrens. New species Parasite of the Army-worm. — Microgaster militaris. New species. Parasite of the Army-worm. — Glyphe viridascens. New species. Parasite of some undetermined parasite of the Army-worm. To face page 175. 175 and no private individual can be expected to do more. If the State liad seen lit to appoint a Board of Entomologists, to visit eve- ry connty in the Sfa e and collect reliable information as to the relative numbers of the eaters and the eatees^ we should then be able to foi-see the future. At present it is all guess work. We will now take up, in as much detail as our space permits, the separate species of parasites above referred to. Full notices of each will be found in the Appendix, intended for the use of those onlj who study entomology as a science. Probably the general reader will consider desci'iptions such as these needlessly minute. The naturalists of the last century were of the same opinion, and the cojisequence is that their brief descriptions often apply equally well to four or live entirely distinct species. KED TAILED TACHINA FLY. FIG. IV. ITS PUPA. FIG. V. This insect is not a hyme ojHerous or four-winged fly, like the great nuijoritj of pai-asites, but is a dijyterous or two-winged ll_y, belonging to the same order as the musketoes, horse flies, houte- flies and bot-flies. It is not furnished witli a piercer at the end of its tail, like the liymenojyterotis ichneunum-flies, adapted to penetrate the flesh of its victim and lay its eggs in it, i)ut nature has provided it with a cement, with whicli it glues its eggs on to the shoulders of the caterpillar, externally. Of flfty or sixty army-worms which I brought with me from Bloomingtctn, all but two had these eggs, from one to six in number, fastened on the upper surface of the two or three anterior segments of the i)ody. Instinct appears to teach the mother fly that if she places her eggs further back, the little maggots, as they hatch out and begin to penetrate the flesh, wil) be fflt by the victim and seized by its powerful jaws, as I have seen wood-feeding caterpillars seize, and worry like a dog, ants that at- tacked rhem. These egre.sent four-winged flies of the great Ichneuinoa family, or of the almost ecjually extensive Vhalcis family, which agrees generally in its habits with the Ichneumons, butdifl'ers in having wings almost destitute of nervures ajid in spinning no cocouns. Hence, when a chalcis is bred tVom a cocoon of white silk, such as the ichneumon- flies generally spin, we know that it is parasitic on the ichneunu)n; just as we should know, if we found a snake in a bird's nest, that the snake did not build the nest, but was a mere intruder there. It is the general habit of larvae infested with ichneumon-flies to attach their claws flrmly in death to the substance on which they stand. It is also the general habit wf the ichneumons to sjiin their cocoons on or ch»se to the carcass of their victim. Hc7K;e if an icli- neumouized army-woi-m ha])pens to perish on a stalk of wheat or grass far above tlie sui'face of the ground, the parasites, for the bet- ter security of their cocoons, attacti them together in symmetiical form — as shown in Fig. YII — around or upon the grass stem. The very same species, if their victim hai)pen to die on theground, will either build their cocoons on his shrunk and shrivelled body, or spin them separately amongst the surrc»unding rubbish, attachii:g '.hem by the same fldssy kind of silk as that with which the connnon silk- worm surrounds its cocoon. AVhen a symmetiical mass of coccons is built, this superabundant flossy material, as shown in Fig. VII, forms a milk-white cottony envelope, entirely covering the cocoons. In theflgure this is stripped ofl" in front, to show the arraisgement. Unlike the TciGldna fanuly, the Ichneumon-flies vary greatly in size, according to the s|)ecies, some being nearly Ave inches long, including the piercer of the female, and some so small as to be barely visible to the nakod eye. I have bred as many as ninety- nine individuals of a species of chalcis from a single Iepido])terou3 pupa, but little larger than that of the army-worm. The larger species of Ichneumons deposit a single ii^'^ in a single larva, or, if they deposit more, the stronger outgrow and overpuwer the weaker. Fig. VI represents an undescribed ichneumon-fly — the left figure beinic the female and the right the male — remarkable for both sexes 178 beinp: entirely winfrless. They liave somewhat tlie appearance of ants, but may he readily distinguished hy their antennaj not being elbowed in the middle. They occurred at Centralia, and as Mr. Emery thinks, from whom I obtained the cocoons, also in Cham- paiijn county. Fig. VII shows a mass of their cocoons, enveloped in tl')ss, w'th one cocoon detached. I have bred precisely the same species at Rock Island, from cocoons- not symmetrically built to- gether, and with no floss surrounding them. Fig. V III is a chalcis, parasitic on the above, and therefore from the same localities. The species (»ccurs sparingly at Rock Island. Figures IX and X are two species of ichneumon-flies, from co- coons loose, or but slightly connected together, forwarded to me by S. Doyle. Schuyler county. Fig. XI is one of the great C/ialcis family, bred from two masses of ichneumon cocoons enveloped in floss, received from S. Doyle, of Schuyler county. The mother chalcis-fly liad been so diligent in depositing her eggs in the numerous ichneumon larvae living in- side the army-worm, that not a single one arrived at maturity to tell me what species he belonged to. Col. Dougherty, of Junesboro, in Unicn connty, informed me that from eight army-woi-ms, which he attempted to rear, he raised only two moths, the remainder, from his description, having evi- dently been eaten up by ichneumoii-flies, that afterwards spun their cocoons on the shriveled skins. I arrived in Southern Illinois so long after the army-worms had gone underground, that I was una- ble myself to fliul any ichneumon cocoons in the infected flelds, al- though I searched diligently. But the above fact proves that tliey were there, although the species cannot be determined. The object of the above very imj)erfect sketch of the insect foes of the army-worm will be attained, if I succeed in impressing uj)oa the minds of intelligent agriculturists the real nature of the battle "which their friends, the cannil)al and parasitic insects, are perpetu- ally waging in their behalf against their foes, the plant-feeders. There have now been introduced to the noticeof the reader no less than four distinct parasitic insects, which prey on the army-worra in prodigious numbers; and doubtless a more thorough investiga- tion would discover many other species. While the farmer is in bed and asleep, these tiny creatures are doing more for him than the united labors of a million of men could accomplish. It is on the same principle and through similar agencies that other noxious insects are kept within reasonable limits. There are very few plant- feeding insects that do not produce as many as a hundred eggs, and if a wise Providence did Tiot take care that the great bulk of these should perish befoie arriving at maturity, the world in twelve months would be a desert. BENJ. D. M^ALSfl. Bock Island, Jxtly 31, 1861. 179 APPENDIX. The science of Entomoloofj in tin's country is at present drowned in a flood ot'sjMionyins. Haifa dozen different authors often de- scribe the same insect under half a dozen ditfei-ent names, until the result to the neophyte is utter confusion and hewildernicnt. Much has been done toward-; ol)viatin<>: tiiese dithcidties by the pul)lica- tion of the Smithsonian Cataloo-ues; but much still remains to be done. I should not now venture to name and describe the few species below referred to as new, if it had not happened that the smaller species of the very extensive gronj) of insects to which they belonoi; — -alrhouwh of the utmost importance in an economic point of view — are almost entirely ne<:!;lected l)y writers on American En- tomolo, ho r>f,TS to it iiiidor its oiij;in:il Uiinu', in the List of Lepiiloptcra in tht; Biitish .Museum, p. 289, it having now IjCimi ascertained tli.it it was a North American and not i British insect. Guenee appears to have overlo )ked thi-< species of the English autiiors. In his valuable work on t le Lcpidoptora, (Vol. V, p- 77 — Paris, 1852.) he ri'ganls it as a new species, naming it Leucauia extranea. It is possible, however, after all, that Francillon's specimen may have been actually captured in Eiifj:land, tor the insect has lecently been met with there in two several instances, as I learn from the following extract from Stanton's Kntomological Annual for 1859, which has been obli,i>in — but e-i)iciali}- wliMt in tiic Nciroptcra is ealk'd tlie Median bv my iVicnd Dr. Ihij^cn, (Monojz;!. l.ibellul. vol. I, plate 1, and vol II, p!;ite '22,] — are nunc or ks> wliite, and very disti c-tly so towards their tips. Jii?t in.'-ide the fiingo there is a st-rii's (f fight blaek dots, one betwen every two m'rvure.-!. Tin; white spot before nf-rred to is al- ways on the trifurcation of the "median" nervnre, an Taehinadas, and that fragment does not include these genera. The fimly requires a thorough revision, as no less than three classifications, independent of each other, have been introduced into it, (Meigen's, Ma'-quart's and Robineuu Des- voidy's.) * * * * I advise you to describe it, without troubling about ascertain- ing if it is really new or not. * * * * The same Tachina has been sent to me by Mr. Kirkpatrick, editor of an agricultural paper, in Cleveland, Ohio. I have thought it best not to disturb Dr. Le Baron's generic de- termination, as Baron Osten Sacken allows Exorista (Meigen) and Senometojna (Macquart) to be nearly synonymous, and the respective claims of these two European authors are not yet finally adjusted. 184: Possibly the reason Sennmetoj)ia \s not roconrr\\ze(] in Macqnart^s work oil Exotlo Dipterals tiiat the .iji;enns has not hitherto heen dis- covered in the New Woild. Similarly the Ol'(jj/i]/nis\'i\u\\\y (Coleop- terai and the llJmphidhi tamily (Nenn)]>tera) were tbriiieily sn]j[)0- sed t<) be restricted to the Old World, but have now occurred in North America — the European Rhap/iiditi media beins: met with here, as I leani from Dr. Hao:en. Tiie characters oi' &orista, as given by Westwood, are altogether inapplicable to our insect. But in the Diptera, this author is not always reliable, although lie has done Lis best to reconcile and systematize the conflicting aiTangeinents of the three antliois named by Baron Osten Sacken. It will be observed that I write Tachinadae for the Tachina fam- ily, MuscadjB for the Miisc« family, on the analogy of JNoctuadse, Arctitfdae, as written by Dr. Morris. Otherwise there is li ,ble to be confusion with the Muscus family (mosses) in Botany, and the Tachiiw/.s subfamily in the Coleoptera. I am well aware that the termination idee would be more classically correct; but when the whole scientific world is cold-blooded enough to stand calmly by, and allow modern Naturalists to murder King Otho's Greek in tlie most diabolical manner — omitting aspirates worse than any London cockney (/matidum, ^Itica, C'jjlocephala, (^malium, I'pononK'uta, ^^rpetogomphus, C^inaloplia, etc., etc., etc.,) and inventing barba- rous Greek compounds, wliicli neither Homer nor Aristotle nor Aristophanes could j)ossibly have guessed the meaning of— it is not good to be particular about trifles,] ORDER HYMENOPTERA. FAMILY ICIINEDMONES GENUINI. I am not sure that I am right in referring the following species to Jlesochorus, Gravenhorst. Westwood says, "abdomen peduu- cled, ohlong?'' Viewed from above it is as drawn In the figure ; viewed in profile, it curves considerably, especially at base, and is quite narrow, except toward the tip, whei'e it expands suddeidy. The appendiculated abdomen of the male is, however, I believe, a character found in no other genus of i-enuine ichneumons. Mksochorus vitreus. Fig. IX. New species, parasitic on L. unijJtincta^ Haw. Length of body .08 inch., (twt» millimetres,) to .Vi inch, (three millimetres;) the small sjiecimens being pai-asitic on the army-worm and the large ones captured in Uoc-k Inland county. Male, general color light ruf mis. Eyes and ocelli, l)lack ; antennae fuscous, except toward the base. Upper surface of thorax in the larger specimen fuscous; intermediate and posterior tibiae with si)urs equal to one-fourth of their length ; posterior knees slightly dusky ; tips of posterior tibias distinctly dusky. AVings hyaline; nervures and stigma, dusky. Abdomen, a translucent yellowish white in its central one-third ; the remaining two-thirds 185 piceons black, with a distinct narrow yellowish annul us at the base of the third joint. In the larger specimen, which seems to i)e im- mature, the basal ahdoniinal joint, and the articulations of the ter- minal joints are light I'ufons. Apj)endiculum of the abdomen com- posed of two extremely fine setae, thickened at their base, whose length slightly exceeds the extreme widtli of the abdomen. The female differs from the male in the head from the mouth upwards being piceous. The thorax and pectus, in all three spe- cimens, are also piceous black. Aljdomen as in the smaller male. Ovipositor, which is dusky, slightly exceeds in length the width of the abdomen. Bred from the army-worm one small male and two small fe- males. Captured in Kock Island county one large male and one large female. The discrepancy in size is considerable, but I can find no distinguishing specific characters. Tezomachus minimus. Figures VI and YII. New species. Length of the body .07 to 1 inch., (2 to 2^ millimetres.) Male general color, piceoufi. Eyes black ; antennoe, black, except to- ward the base, where they are light rufous. Legs, rufous ; hind legs a little dusky. At)d(tmen narrowed ; second and sometimes the third joint annulate with rufous at tip. The female differs from the male in the thorax being almost invariably rufous, and in the first three abdominal joints being generally entirely rufous with a piceous annulus at tiie base of the third, which is sometimes absent. The abdomen is also fuller and wider. Ovipositor dusky, equal in length to the width of the abdomen. No vestige of winflrvey V \ \\ ,T r< f,-4;./!>j«:..;.'. ,]v.-^-..-.*^. "^.i^n^^ - ;i 'r">o; .... - . ' .' ''..',v.-■•tf■t/::■■'^'' ^►f''r'.'-iiEflK - ,:.•«. :.',V;v .' :''r'.l.:,;.,\,..i>,:.'L','^?^'n !A,'? • - r* . J. ..I . '••i(>, ■ ■ •'>.>- -1 'Tt' T^'jisfr i' ^^'yJ^V , - , - - -' li'V-:';'*-^ ■ .;■ •. .r--?-'^ .-■..•.t ..•r-:.-'''-:v;;r. .-;-c^ir,. ■'•:*• *' ■' C'': ;■ ,'.'H'*T/ /.".*; C'-'' *''^" "'■'•*' ^-*-^tt^ ■/, ■,■-,'..» w-:^ ,, ,-«.fcA. « v^*-» -^^m