lvi GENERAL SUMMARY OF SCIENTIFIC AND 



and the mineral phosphates from South Carolina and else- 

 where. 



The subject of the diseases of animals and plants is, of 

 course, an important one to the agriculturist, and the threat- 

 ened destruction of the vine in Europe, and especially in 

 France, by the ravages of the Phylloxera vastatrix, or grape- 

 vine louse, has caused the gravest apprehension. This insect 

 is believed to be originally a native of America, and to have 

 been transferred to Europe, where, as in its native home, it 

 exhibits itself in two forms, one living among the roots of 

 the vine, and the other on the stems and leaves. Numer- 

 ous remedies have been proposed, but apparently with little 

 success the only practical one being flooding the roots dur- 

 ing the winter with water, whenever this is practicable, so as 

 to destroy the animal. 



The silk-worm disease, at one time so prevalent in Europe, 

 is now, according to Guerin-Meneville,in process of disappear- 

 ance so much so that partially diseased eggs have been 

 known to produce perfectly healthy worms, a fact of much 

 moment to silk-culturists. 



Among the diseases of domestic animals, the most preva- 

 lent during the past year was the so-called epizootic, which ap- 

 peared, for the most part, to be confined to horses, and which, 

 beginning in Canada in September, rapidly spread south- 

 ward and westward, until the whole country was involved. 

 At the present time it appears to be raging in Arizona, and 

 Montana, where, as elsewhere, it has produced the greatest in- 

 convenience. 



Other diseases have been, perhaps, less common in this 

 country; although we have the customary announcements in 

 the papers of hog and chicken cholera, of pleuro-pneumonia 

 among cattle, etc. 



The potato has experienced one of its great seasons of epi- 

 demic in Europe in Great Britain, especially, where the crop 

 gathered has formed but a very small percentage of the ex- 

 pected harvest. 



Having thus briefly considered the subject of Agriculture, 

 or the questions connected with the culture of the soil and 

 the rearing of terrestrial animals, we proceed to the consid- 

 eration of a kindred department, or, indeed, a subdivision of 

 the same general science, which has not inaptly been termed 



