586 



NA TURE 



[April 23. 1896 



many as twenty-eight different kinds of trees and shrubs are 

 enumerated as being liable to the attacks of this pest, including 

 most of the common fruit trees, a few varieties of pear only being 

 exempt. 



The "jack-rabbits" of Southern California and the adjoining 

 States appear to be nearly as great a nuisance in America, as the 

 ordinary rabbit in Australia and New Zealand. A lately pub- 

 lished number of the Bulletin of the U.S. Department of 

 Agriculture is devoted to a report, prepared by Dr. T. S. Palmer, 

 on the jack-rabbits and their ravages, and on the best manner of 

 getting rid of them, which is said to have become of late years 

 a serious question in California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and 

 Utah. The so-called "jack-rabbits" belong to five species of 

 the genus Lepus, which are spread over Western America from 

 the plains of the Saskatchewan down to Mexico. They live on 

 the open prairies, and, as they do not burrow, are compelled to 



appointed day large numbers of people turn out, armed with sticks 

 and clubs, and, scattering over a considerable area, start the 

 rabbits and drive them towards the mouth of the coral. Every 

 available vehicle is pressed into service, but the larger part of 

 the throng is usually on foot. The lines gradually close in, and 

 the frightened rabbits, urged on by blows and shouts, rush blindly 

 into the opening between the wings, and are gradually despatched 

 with clubs. The Bulletin contains a table, which shows that 

 upwards of 370,000 "jack-rabbits " have recently been destroyed 

 in this manner. 



The last Bulletin received (vol. ii. No 6) of the Imperial 

 University College of Agriculture (Tokyo) contains important 

 papers (in German), all relating to the culture of Conifers, by 

 Prof. O. Loew and Dr. Seiroku Honda. 



Messrs. Henry Holt and Co. announce, among their 

 forthcoming works, " Electricity," by Prof. Charles A. Perkins, 





Sl^^HSiJ^tti 



^^^^'^"^TT^"'^^™- 



ult of the Grand Army R.-ibbit Drive at Fresno, California— 20,000 Jack Rabbits killed. 



trust for safety on their quickness of hearing and speed. Their 

 ears and hind legs have been developed accordingly to an extra- 

 ordinary degree. In some places they multiply to such an 

 enormous extent that the damage done to the crops in one single 

 county in California has been estimated at 600,000 dols., and 

 one county in Idaho has expended more than 30,000 dols. in 

 bounties paid for their destruction. The most effective mode of 

 getting rid of jack-rabbits appears to be by driving them over a 

 large tract of country into a "coral." On each side of the coral 

 two long wings of wire-fencing are run out, and in some cases 

 are extended to a length of six or seven miles on each side. The 

 whole population of the country is then collected on a special 

 day and a line formed, in order to drive the rabbits between the 

 wings of fencing into the coral. In some cases these drives are 

 carried out on a gigantic scale, and the number of rabbits 

 destroyed on a single occasion runs up to 20,000. Upon the 

 NO. 1382, VOL. 53] 



of the University of Tennessee, and "A Problem Book in 

 Elementary Chemistry," by E. Dana Pierce, of the Hotchkiss 

 School, Lakeville, Ct. 



The Field Columbian Museum has issued a Flora of West 

 Virginia, by Mr. C. F. Millspaugh and Mr. L. W. Nuttall. 

 Besides Flowering Plants the list includes the Vascular Crypto- 

 gams, Muscinere, and Fungi ; a considerable number of new 

 species of Fungi being described. While commending the 

 activity of this energetic Western station, we would venture to 

 suggest, in future publications, a somewhat more careful revision 

 of the press. Such names as Eqtiisita, Lycopoda, and Impomaa 

 do not look well in a scientific publication. 



We have received the Summary Report of the Canadian 

 Geological Survey, for 1895. Although strict economy has 



