94 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 19 



said he wished to add that Mr. Loansbury had sent two boxes, one a deep box and the 

 other a shallow one. The shallow box carried the more successfully ; ttie scales hid 

 begun to rot in the deep one. 



Mr. Lounsbury stated that the history of the case dated back to his B'-st arrival in 

 Cape Colony. Before he had been there a year he noticed that the black sjale was not 

 injurious, and upon travelling about the Colony he found the same condicion true over 

 many thousand miles of territory. Later, upon obtaining specimens of the pftraiite and 

 corresponding with Mr. Howard on the subject, the latter had suggested his stndit>or ic to 

 California. For four years he had been watching for an opportunity to gRt a suffi ;ienb 

 number of parasites to send, but the scale is so well kept in check by the parasites or by 

 other factors, that until this year he was unable to find a large quantity. Last year he 

 mentioned the matter in his annual report; a copy of which he had eent to Mr. Ehr'iorD, 

 who at once wrote and asked him to take steps to get the parasite established in Cali- 

 fornia. He replied that he would gladly do all he could, bub would like Mr. Edrhorn to 

 make it a formal matter so that he might be able to spend the time and money necessary. 

 This was done and Mr. Lounsbury received formal orders to go ahead. He set about it in 

 two ways: First, he had scales coUectdd and reared young larvae from them, whici 

 were placed on yourg oleander trees now being kept in the Cape Town gardens. Prim 

 ary parasites were to be admitted to the plants, but secondaries excluded. These plants 

 in time he may be able to send to the United States in Wardian cases. Second, while 

 waiting for these to develop he had Mr. Mally go out and search the country side, with 

 the fortunate result that relatively large colonies of scale were found where Mr. Louns- 

 bury had seen small colonies the year before. Mr. Mally collected for nearly a week and 

 brought in over a bushel of twigs which were carefully sorted, cut into foot lengths, and 

 the ends dipped into sealing wax. The twigs were then «rrapped in tissue paper. The 

 matter of the differently shaped boxes was purely accidental. He went to the grocery shop 

 and picked out what he thought would be best suited, taking one shallow box and one 

 deep box in order to try them. He thought that packed in the manner above described 

 and placed in a wooden box, what moisture came would be absorbed by the wood. The 

 boxes were packed the night preceding Mr. Lounsbury's departure, the deep box being 

 placed on a dry shelf in the fruit room of the Cape steamer and the shallow box kept in 

 the stateroom. In this way the insects were taken to England, which he hurried across 

 and took the next liner. He then tried to get the box which he had kept in the fruit 

 room also placed in a cool room on the New York steamer, but found no choice between 

 putting it in the meat room or leaving it outside. He preferred not to freeze the insects 

 because the oarasites, not being accustomed to such temperature, might succumb, and he 

 therefore pUced the box in an empty cabin below the water line. The voyage was for- 

 tunately coal, the temperature averaging about 60°. The shallow box was ke^pt in his 

 stateroom, as on the Gape steamer, and immediately upon arrival in New Yjrk both 

 boxes were shipped to Dr. Howard. They arrived in New York in 25 days from Cape 

 Town, a quick passage which, perhaps, could not be repeated. 



On being asked if the black scale in South Africa is destructive to citrus trees to the 

 same extent as in California, Mr. Lounsbury replied that he had seen citrus trees infested 

 in only about ten places in the last five years, and never more than a few scales at any of 

 these places. Occasionally he had seen the scale on citrus trees from Natal or from Aus- 

 tralia which had been imported to the Cape. One orchardisb having several thousand 

 trees, said he had seen a few on his Australian trees, but they had disappeared. He him- 

 self was unable to find any there after a year from the importation. It is not known of 

 what country the scale is a native, but it must have been in Cape Colony for many years. 

 It occurs most commonly on oleander, which at the Cape is an outdoor plant, and Myro- 

 porum. He had found it 150 miles inland and on numerous indigenous plants away 

 from settlements. 



Transmission op Parasites. 



A conversation on the subject of the transmission of parasites from one region of 

 country to another then followed. Mr. Johnson said that; he had recently received a 

 request from Mr. Ehrhorn of California, for parasites that prey in the East on the im- 

 ported cabbage worm. It seemed to Mr. Johnson that this was a matter for co-operation, 



