A new Disease of the Plum. 247 



a day passes, which does not bring to light some hitherto un- 

 discovered fact. We cannot open a number of a scientific 

 journal without finding something wondrous, strange. What 

 circumspection and inquiry, what research and investigation, 

 are yet requisite to develop the habits of organized living be- 

 ings ! The student of nature, who endeavors to discover what 

 has been really done, is amazed to find, after all, how Utile has 

 been effected. The field of inquiry is as boundless as crea- 

 tion itself ! A few grand leading facts and truths have been 

 established, through the lapse of centuries; beyond these how 

 much uncertainty yet ! This seeming endless variety in the 

 forms of organized bodies is as wondrous as it is overwhelm- 

 ing. Every where is stamped in characters too plain to be 

 overlooked the wisdom and power of creative energy. The 

 vastness of this idea can only be appreciated by him who is in 

 some measure conversant with studies like those peculiar to 

 natural science. At no time is the investigator at a loss to 

 find the means of enkindling his enthusiasm, or of awakening 

 his zeal. In the humblest department, as in the most exalting 

 and noble, are themes of intense interest and of delightful in- 

 quiry. The spirit of the day is eminently that of a general 

 thirst for knowledge, and in every possible channel for acquir- 

 ing that, have the minds of men run. Scientific research has 

 not been tardy in this respect, and this may be esteemed the 

 golden age of Science and the Arts." 



Art. II. A neio Disease of the Plum. By Dr. T. W. 

 Harris, author of the Entomological Report of the 

 State of Massachusetts. 



Last year an undescribed disease of the plum made its ap- 

 pearance in some gardens of this vicinity, in the latter part of the 

 month of May, and has been observed again during the present 

 season. Soon after the blossom had fallen, the fruit began to 

 swell rapidly, and, in the course of two or three weeks, it had 

 grown to more than ten times the size that it ordinarily attains 

 in the same period. It was soft and compressible, as though 



