Ever since I became connected with the New York city press, some thirty odd years ago, scarcely a season has passed during which one or more specimens of the Regal walnut caterpillar (_Citheronia regalis_), shown in Fig. 99, have not been received from some correspondent who had found them crawling down the stem or on the ground near a walnut tree. Such a large caterpillar would naturally attract the attention of almost any person, but to the timid its appearance is exceedingly ferocious and repulsive, while to the entomologist it is a beautiful and interesting creature, and far more likely to be handled with care than injured. This caterpillar is of a green color, and transversely banded across each of the rings with pale blue. The head and legs are of an orange color, also the long spine or horns, with the points tipped with black. It is certainly very formidable in appearance, but perfectly harmless, and may be handled with impunity. The parent moth (Fig. 100) has fore wings of an olive color, ornamented with small yellow spots and veined with red lines. The hind wings are orange-red, with two large irregular yellow patches before, and a row of wedge-shaped olive colored spots between the veins behind. Although this insect appears to be widely distributed over the country, and the caterpillars feed on the walnuts and occasionally on the hickory, it has never been known to be sufficiently numerous to attract any special attention. CHAPTER IX. MISCELLANEOUS NUTS--EDIBLE AND OTHERWISE. In the following list of plants there are a few that in no way can be considered as related to the true nut-bearing trees and shrubs; but as the word "nut" has been attached as a prefix or affix in commerce, or elsewhere, they are admitted, even if for no other purpose than to designate their true position in the vegetable kingdom. For convenience, they are recorded in alphabetical order, the most familiar of the common names--where there are more than one--being given precedence, the botanical or scientific following, with a brief description, as my limited space will not permit of anything more extended. It is not claimed that this catalogue of nuts is complete, but it is probably as near it as any heretofore compiled and published, and it may serve as the basis for a better and more extended one at some future time.