396 ANNUAL RECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



varieties of American vines resist the attacks of the insect ; 

 third, the existence of an acarus which pursues the Phyllox- 

 era for food, even into the depths of the soil, and destroys it. 

 Planchon carried back with him some specimens of this 

 acarus, the acclimation of which he thought would produce 

 important results. 6 P, October 20, 1873, 871. 



PHYLLOXERA THE EESULT, NOT THE CAUSE OF THE VIXE 



DISEASE. 



M. Guerin Meneville, in a communication to the Academy 

 of Sciences of Paris, takes the ground that the Phylloxera 

 (or grape-vine louse) is not the cause of the vine disease, but 

 simply an accompaniment of it, the pathological condition 

 of the vine permitting an enormous multiplication of the in- 

 sect. Until quite recently, the Phylloxera has remained al- 

 most unappreciated, on account of its diminutive size and its 

 retired life; but in the diseased state of the plant it is mul- 

 tiplied to such an extent as to make itself manifest to the 

 notice of all. In this view, all efforts at removing the evil 

 by applications to the insect must necessarily be fruitless, 

 and only those which serve as manures or stimulants to the 

 plant itself will be of any avail. 1 P, December 21, 1873, 

 214. 



PROTECTION OF RABBITS IX EXGLAXD. 



The Game Law Committee of Parliament has recommend- 

 ed that the protection given to rabbits by the game law 

 should be withdrawn, excepting in warrens and small in- 

 closed spaces, in view of the great injury done by these ani- 

 mals to the cultivated lands, in which they are alleged to 

 destroy more food than they are worth. It is difficult to 

 realize the number of hares and rabbits annually killed, and 

 used for food or for their fur, in the United Kingdom; but, ac- 

 cording to Land and Water,the aggregate reaches 30,000,000, 

 furnishing about 40,000 tons of food, and the collection and 

 manufacture of the skins supplying employment for many 

 thousands of people. Besides these, large numbers of rabbits 

 are imported from abroad. The skins are used for making- 

 felt, from which hats are manufactured, and they are also 

 dyed and used for cheap furs. 



It is maintained that a comparison as to the relative pecu- 



