Regarding the question raised by Mr. Chambers, whether the sting of this insect is poisonous, and which he is inclined to believe to be in part true, we might say that naturalists generally believe it to be harmless. No hemiptera are known to be poisonous, that is, to have a poison-gland connected with the sting, like that of the bee, and careful dissections by the eminent French naturalist, Lacaze-Duthiers, of three European species of Cicada, have not revealed any poison apparatus at the base of the sting. Another proof that it does not pour poison into the wound made by the ovipositor is, that the twig thus pierced and wounded does not swell, as in the case of plants wounded by Gall flies, which, perhaps, secrete an irritating poison, giving rise to tumors of various shapes. Many insects sting without poisoning the wound; the bite of the mosquito, black fly, flea, the bed bug, and other hemipterous insects, are simply punctured wounds, the saliva introduced being slightly irritant, and to a perfectly healthy constitution they are not poisonous, though they may grievously afflict some persons, causing the adjacent parts to swell, and in some weak constitutions induce severe sickness. Regarding this point, Mr. Chambers writes: "I have heard--not through the papers--within a few days past of a child, within some twenty miles of this place, dying from the sting of a Cicada, but have not had an opportunity to inquire into the truth of the story, but the following you may rely on. A negro woman in the employment of A. V. Winston, Esq., at Burlington, Boone County, Ky., fifteen miles distant from here, went barefooted into his garden a few days since, and while there was stung or bitten in the foot by a Cicada. The foot immediately swelled to huge proportions, but by various applications the inflammation was allayed, and the woman recovered. Mr. Winston, who relates this, stands as high for intelligence and veracity as any one in this vicinity. I thought, on first hearing the story, that probably the sting was by some other insect, but Mr. Winston says that he saw the Cicada. But perhaps this proves that the sting is _not_ fatal; that depends on the subject. Some persons suffer terribly from the bite of a mosquito, while others scarcely feel them. The cuticle of a negro's foot is nearly impenetrable, and perhaps the sting would have been more dangerous in a more tender part." It is not improbable that the sting was made by a wasp (Stizus) which preys on the Cicada. Dr. Le Baron and Mr Riley believe the wound to be made by the beak, which is the more probable solution of the problem.