189n.] ESSAYS. 63 



ascribe many natiu-al phenomena as accountable to effluvia. Tlie philo- 

 sophic though dogmatic Jonathan Edwards* believed that each planet 

 emitted different effluvia, which he conjectured had great influence on 

 plants and animals. We do not wish, however, to go into a discus- 

 sion of these ideas, or even of the Platonic or idealistic conception 

 entertained by Cotton Mather and others of that time, who believed 

 that everything in the nature of a blight was created for the special 

 purpose of rectifying the unrighteous conduct of wicked men, 

 and that the demonstration of Divine Providence in remarkable mer- 

 cies and judgments were only the natural rewards of the just. Suffice 

 it to say that the immediate cause underlying these disorders we now 

 well understand, and the pungent effluvium or infectious element re- 

 ferred to on the barberry is nothing more or less than the manifesta- 

 tion of the normal processes of reproduction and propagation which 

 take place in the life-history of the fungus known as Puccinia gra- 

 minis ; and, with due respect to the metaphysical speculations and un- 

 philosophical deductions of our revered though well-meaning ances- 

 tors, we must add that it is now generally believed that the blasting 

 of wheat has ever had but little connection with the "great comet or 

 blazing star of 1G64," or with the persecution of the Quakers in 1659, 

 but is due to wholly natural causes which manifest themselves in di- 

 versified form according to perfectly natural changes of condition in 

 our environment. 



The fungous diseases of cultivated plants cause annually an enor- 

 mous loss to American agriculture, a large proportion of which might 

 be prevented by the use of remedies which are known to be effectual. 

 It is difficult indeed to determine definitely the amount of damage in- 

 flicting a certain crop by fungous enemies, especially where we have 

 to deal with large areas, but it is safe to say that in most instances it 

 is much greater than is ordinarily supposed. In some years the blast 

 to wheat and corn alone by fungous diseases in the United States is 

 estimated at $200,000,000, and according to Prof. Burrell the average 

 annual loss due to rust of wheat in Illinois is estimated at one-half 

 million dollars. It is estimated that the average yearly loss of oats in 

 the United States due to smut equals or exceeds one-tenth of the en- 

 tire crop. According to Prof. Kellerman the loss in Kansas in 1888 

 was nearly one and one-half million, and in 1889 at about one mil- 

 lion ; and according to Prof. Arthur the loss in Indiana from the same 

 cause in 1889 was about $800,000, and in 1890 somewhat over 



* Life of Jonathan Edwards, 1830, vol. l,p. 734. 



