THE ELM. 61 



out with great sagacity the causes of those diseases 

 among them that appear to be infectious, and often 

 blight at once the plantations and the hopes of the 

 planter : " Of the evil which is mentioned above in 

 general terms," he proceeds to observe, " St. James's 

 and Hyde Parks afford us at present too many 

 examples. The elm-trees in both, and particularly 

 in St. James's Park, are rapidly disappearing ; and 

 unless decisive measures be soon taken to resist the 

 progress of the contagion, we must not only expect 

 every tree of this species to be destroyed in the 

 Parks, but may have to regret the dissemination of 

 the evil throughout the vicinity of London. In the 

 year 1780, an insect of the same natural family as 

 the hyleshiies destructor, made its appearance in the 

 pine-forests of the Hartz, and was neglected. In 

 the year 1783, whole forests had disappeared, and, for 

 want of fuel, an end was nearly put to the mining 

 operations of that extensive range of country. At 

 the present moment, also, the French Government 

 is in alarm at the devastation committed in their 

 arsenals, by an insect well known to naturalists, 

 under the name of lymexylon navale. About ten 

 years ago, the principal naval engineer at Toulon, 

 M. de Cerisier, who happened to be conversant with 

 entomology, discovered this insect in the dock-yards, 

 and recommended certain precautions to be taken 

 for the preservation of the timber there lodged. 

 The French Government objected to the expense 



