248 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



birds. In France, the race of guillemots has been 

 nearly destroyed, the birds having been shot without 

 any mercy by sportsmen desirous of proving their own 

 skill and the excellence of their weapons by bringing 

 down their game, which though inedible, offers a 

 difficult mark to the gun." 



"Brave bravery, in truth ! " 



" The Chinese (we always return to the Chinese) 

 hunt the cormorant, but with a more practical object in 

 view. They train them for fishing, in a manner simi- 

 lar to that in which falcons were trained in the middle 

 ages for hunting birds. 



" It appears that these palmipedes, after their train- 

 ing has been completed, bring a great profit to their 

 owners, and are sold for a high price in the markets of 

 the Celestial Empire. 



" I am surprised that no ingenious sportsman should 

 have yet entertained the idea of introducing this 

 method of fishing among ourselves ; its success would 

 be certain. And, as we are now touching on subjects 

 that closely concern agricultural economy (for there is 

 no greater economy in agriculture than to protect our 

 friends and destroy our foes), perhaps you would 

 like to know my true opinion on a pest, a veritable 

 Egyptian plague, that costs many millions to France 

 every year the phylloxera. With a view to arresting 

 its ravages, considerable sums are expended on 

 chemicals and complicated apparatus, only an inade- 



