ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY ENTOMOLOGY. 555 



till- (U'volo]iiiiciit 111' tlic coiiidiiil plinsi' of (he l'un.i,'us, tlic iiicIIkkIs of iiifcctiou, 

 and iiivestijiiitioiis for its control. 



The conidia will not jionninate at a very low tonipcratinv. and they are 

 destroyed at a tcniiierature beyond H5 to 38°. However, tli(> tenijierature 

 and int)istui'<' arc fre(|nently sncli as to produce very rapid jxrowth. The 

 primary infection takes place Ihroni,'!! tlie germination of sjiorcs in contact 

 with the grajies. and the j^iTui tnhcs soon penetrate the cnticlc of the berry, 

 Tisnally thronch insect punctnres or other wounds. From this jiriniary infec- 

 tion the fundus s])reads from luM'ry to berry through contact, and on this 

 account those variclies with very compact clusters suffer the most. The 

 s])read nf the disease is shown to be very closely associated with the rainfall, 

 raiiid di-velopment following i)eriods of abundant precipitation. 



In experiments for the control of this disease the author made ap])lications 

 at S and l.l day intervals, covering a period of 2 or '.'> months, of P>ordeaux 

 mixture, a mixture composed of nickel sulphate neutralized with lime. Bor- 

 deaux mixture to which sugar is added, verdigris solution, and solution of 

 liermanganate of jiotash. and in addition tested the value of powdered lime 

 and plaster and sulphate of alumina. At the end of the season the gra'pes 

 were gathered and the yields from the rows receiving the different treatments 

 were compared. 



It was found tliat the fungicides containing cop]ier in solnlilc form, such as 

 those containing sugar, verdigris solution, etc., gave better results than where 

 the ordinary form of Bordeaux mixture was used. The nickel sulphate solu- 

 tion gave results com{)arable with or somewhat better than the others, but 

 the high cost of the nickel sulphate precludes its use. The powders of lime 

 and alumina gave good results, so far as the gray rot is concerned, but 

 their manifest inferiority in combating mildew is against their recommenda- 

 tion for extensive use. Potassium permanganate for combating this disease 

 proved of little value. For general use the author considers the sulphate of 

 copi)er to be the best fungicide. 



Some diseases of palms, E. .T. Butler (Agr. ./our. India, 1 (lOOd). No. Jf, 

 pp. 299-310, Ills. „M. — Accounts are given of diseases of a number of palms 

 which have been under the author's observation. Among them is a disease 

 of betel palms that is due to Plnitophthora sp.. another is a disease of the 

 same tree caused by one of the higher fungi, probably a species of Fomes, 

 and a third a disease of the palmyra palm caused by I'lifJiiiiiii sj). 



A new disease of cultivated veronicas (Gard. Chron., 3. .vr;-.. Jfl (1906), 

 \(). 10^6. p. /.TO). — A brief note is given on the occurrence of a fungus on 

 Vcrnnica speciosa and its varieties, which arc in rather extensive cultivation. 

 The fungus, whicli is said to be Septoria erotica, is met with occasionally during 

 the summer, but it develops rapidly in autumn and winter when the plants are 

 grown under glass. It produces small gray spots on tbe leaves, and in the 

 course of 2 or 3 weeks the spots become white. Later the leaves fall, so that 

 the plants assume a naked appearance with but few remaining leaves. The 

 fungus h;is been observed in Argentina. Italy, and (Jcn'many. For the prevention 

 of its attack, si)raying with ammoniacal copper-soda mixture is recommended. 



ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY ENTOMOLOGY. 



Revision of the skunks of the genus Spilogale, A. H. Howell (U. 8. Dept. 

 Af/r.. liin: Biol. SHrrcj/. Xortli Anirricaii Fauna So. 26, pp. 5.), pl'i. 10). — This 

 genus of skunks has in general a southern distribution, reaching, however, into 

 West Virginia, southern Minnesota, and Washington. The genus extends south- 



