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we might extend it still further into the processes of 

 respiration and reproduction, and show similar striking 

 points of resemblance. This being the case it is reason- 

 able to infer that in so far as their difference of struc- 

 ture will admit, plants may be liable to diseases 

 similar to those of animals. 



If these latter can be cured by medical skill, why 

 should not the disease of plants be likewise cured ?..„ 



Many pathologists ascribe the cause of some of 

 the cancerous affections in the human body to cachexia, 

 or a condition in which the system of nutrition is 

 depraved. This being the case, should we not in such 

 diseases as " avocat blight " endeavor to ascertain the 

 causes of such depravation, whether they are in the 

 air or in the soil, and «vhen in the latter endeavor to 

 remedy the soil ? Amputation is the general remedy^ 

 but, where the disease attacks large numbers of trees 

 in any section of country it is reasonable to suppose 

 that its cause must be in the soil. Perhaps introducing 

 some antiseptic drug under and below the diseased 

 parts as that it might be disolved and carried up in 

 the sap might destroy the destructive action, or even 

 the introduction of some drug into the tree by means 

 of small gimlet holes into the trunk or branches might 

 be of service. What these drugs should be, or in what 

 quantity they should be we know not, our object being 

 to draw attention to a certain line of experiment 

 which we believe has not before been suggested. 



The common idea is, that the class of diseases in 



