258 



Yet, no method of excliidin'g the light is stated or claimed. On the contrary, they 

 declare that it may be done by means of the oiled tent or covering ordinarily used 

 for such fumigation, pro\ided the fumigation is done at night. Of' course, night 

 excludes the. light. Everybody knows that. Nor is the night patentable. The 

 ordinary tent or covering of the old process necessarily excludes, to a greater or 

 less degree, depending upon the thickness of* the covering and the extent to which 

 it is colored, tlie actinic rays of light, which is that power of the sun's rays which 

 changes the chemical nature of the mixture. So, also, will the clouds, to a greater 

 or less degree, exclude'such rays, depending upon the density of the clouds. And, 

 after the sun sets and before it rises, they are entirely absent. 



The old process, as described in the specifications, in no manner depends upon the 

 time it is used. It consists, as the specification, expressly recites, of fumigating 

 trees and plants with hydrocyanic acid gas by,means of the oiled tent or covering. 

 Whether used by means of a thin or tliick covering, .heavily or lightly oiled, or in 

 the twilight, or at night, or in the early morning, it is all the time the same process, 

 whicli the public is entitled to use because it was old when the patentees applied 

 for their patent. An old process does not become a new and patentable process by 

 being'used at iiight instead of in'the daytime, or at any particular time, or in any 

 particular state of the weather, or because better results are obtained by its use at 

 one time than another. 



The court, being of the opinion that the patent is void, for want of novelty and 

 invention, and that, in view of its recitals, it is so plainly so that it can not be aided 

 by evidence, it snould be so declared on demurrer, without subjecting the parties to 

 the costs of producing proof. 



When the announcement was first made public that the patent in 

 question had actually been granted, it created no small degree of aston- 

 ishment among the fruit-growers in that part of the country; and the 

 very general impression prevailed that only by the grossest misrepre- 

 sentation could such a result have been brought about. 



As might naturally be expected, the decision of Judge Ross is a 

 most welcome one to the citrus growers of southern California, who 

 depend so largely upon the gas process for protecting their trees froui 

 the ravages of the destructive red scale. While these growers were 

 convinced in their own minds that the patent was not a valid one, still 

 the prospect of a prolonged and expensive litigation deterred several 

 from usiug this process; but now that this incubus has been removed 

 the process will evidently come into more general use than was the 

 case during the existence of the patent. 



A NEW PEAR INSECT. 



A new and serious enemy to pear trees has recently been discovered 

 in ]S^ew Jersej^ by Dr. John B. Smith. It is a flat-headed borer of the 

 genus Agrilus, and late investigations, following a suggestion made 

 by Mr. E. A. Schwarz, of this office, indicate that it is Agrilus sinuatus 

 Ol., of Europe, and therefore an introduced species. Dr. Smith shows 

 that the larva bores between the bark and the sapwood, always iu 

 living tissue, aud makes extremely long and irregular- galleries, killing 



