APRIL 16, 1914] 
missions were ratified without excessive re- 
discussion, and there was happily no need to 
settle the awkward question whether delegates of 
countries which had not produced, and never 
would produce, a sheet of the map should have 
an equal voice with others more deeply interested. 
In an enterprise needing so much cooperation 
and exchange of information a central office is 
necessary. The British delegates had the satis- 
faction of being authorised by their Government 
to propose that a central office should be estab- 
lished in England, of which the small expenses 
should be borne by contributions from the con- 
senting Powers in equal shares. The conference 
did England the honour of accepting this proposal 
unanimously, and if the agreement is ratified it 
is probable that the office will be at the Ordnance 
Survey, Southampton, with an auxiliary office 
in London where all information will be available 
for reference. 
It was decided that the official name of the 
map shall be the French name—‘ Carte inter- 
nationale du monde au millioniéme.” A strict 
adherence to this rule is desirable, especially in 
indexing and cataloguing the literature which will 
grow up, in notices, reviews, and lists of published 
sheets. 
The labours of the conference were lightened 
by the excellent arrangements made for its recep- 
tion in the Salle d’honneur at the Invalides, and 
in the rooms of the Service géographique; by 
the cordial attentions of the hosts; and by the 
splendid hospitality, public and private, extended 
to the delegates. 
The British delegates were Colonel Close 
(Ordnance Survey), Colonel Hedley and Captain 
Cox (Geographical Section, General Staff), and 
Mr. Hinks (Royal Geographical Society), repre- 
senting Great Britain; Major Tandy (Survey of 
India) representing India; and Major Richard- 
son, representing New Zealand. 
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION ON PLANT 
DISEASES. 
a yabiesied after the final sitting of the Inter- 
national Phytopathological Conference, which 
was held at Rome last month, an official statement 
was issued, and extracts from it were given in our 
issue for March 26 (p. go). The text of the draft 
convention which was prepared at this conference 
has now been issued by the International Agri- 
cultural Institute at Rome, and the Governments 
which were represented on that occasion will be 
invited to consider whether they will signify their 
formal acceptance of the proposed agreement. 
Their decision will depend on political and adminis- 
trative reasons with which we are not here con- 
cerned, but the suggestions contained in the docu- 
ment mark an advance in public opinion on the 
subject of plant diseases of great interest to 
men of science, which cannot be entirely over- 
looked. The delegates of thirty independent States 
have decided that it is desirable that a uniform 
procedure should be adopted to control the spread 
NO. 2320, VOL. 93| 
NATURE 
167 
of those diseases which have in the past done so 
much injury to agricultural and horticultural crops, 
and, indeed, are still doing so, and that this pro- 
cedure should include both the scientific study of 
the insect and fungus pests at one or more 
Government phytopathological stations in each 
country, and the application of remedial measures 
by administrative order where these pests exist. 
The official acceptance of this policy would in 
any case give a great stimulus to the study of 
applied biology, and would tend to concentrate the 
attention of entomologists and mycologists on 
economic problems. But the scheme contemplated 
by some of the articles of the convention is 
likely to be productive of even more important re- 
sults. It was evidently felt impossible to prepare a 
list of dangerous diseases applicable to all countries, 
and while, on one hand, it was decided not to 
legislate for those diseases which attack agricul- 
tural crops, such as seeds, grain, potatoes, and 
other “articles de grande culture,” each Govern- 
ment is invited to prepare a list of those diseases 
against which it wishes to be protected. The pre- 
paration of such a list is bound to be difficult, since 
many of the diseases which are comparatively 
harmless in a country where they have been estab- 
lished for many years are apt to assume a virulent 
character when introduced into a country where 
they are unknown. The ravages caused by the 
Brown Tail Moth (Euproctis chrysorrhoea) and 
the Cotton Boll Weevil (Anthonomus grandis) in 
America, by the Vine Louse (Phylloxera vasta- 
trix) and the American Gooseberry mildew 
(Sphaerotheca mors-Uvae) in Europe, are familiar 
examples. The attention of official plant patho- 
logists will have, therefore, to be directed not only 
to the study of the pests of their own country, 
but also to those of other countries the character 
of which is such that they might prove dangerous 
if introduced. 
The field for this kind of research is, of course, 
very wide; but lest an opening should be given 
to unreasonable and alarmist measures likely to 
cause a serious disturbance of trade, it is laid down 
in a very important article what are the con- 
ditions on which the list must be prepared. It is 
wisely declared that the list must be as restricted 
as possible, and must not include any of those 
common pests which are widely distributed in 
almost every country, and are well established 
there. (Les espéces banales, dont la dispersion 
déja ancienne s’étend a presque tous les pays.) 
Moreover, the pest must be epidemic in character, 
and destructive, or at least very injurious, in 
action, as well as be easily capable of being con- 
veyed on living plants, or parts of plants. 
In those cases where the pest is already known 
to be of such a character in its native home or in 
some country into which it has already been intro- 
duced, its inclusion in the list is a foregone con- 
clusion, and there will be little hesitation about 
including the San José Scale (Aspidiotus pernict- 
osus) or the Mediterranean Fruit Fly (Ceratitis 
capitata), the Black Knot (Plowrightia morbosa) 
or the Chestnut disease (Endothia parasitica). 
