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fungus which blasts Indian corn, the poison- 

 ous ergot in rye, the blight of the pear and 

 other fruits, fall as much within the bota- 

 nist's study as do the flowers of the garden 

 or the Sequoias of the Sierra. Not a few of 

 the plant diseases which have threatened 

 famine or disaster have been studied by 

 botanists unknown to the world, whose ex- 

 planations have led to palliation or cure. 



The ichthyologist, studying the habits 

 of fishes, discovered characteristics which 

 promptly commended themselves to men of 

 practical bent. The important industry of 

 artificial fertilization and the transporta- 

 tion of fish eggs, which has enabled man to 

 restock exhausted localities and to stock 

 new ones, is but the outgrowth of closet 

 studies which have shown how to utilize 

 Nature's superabundant supply. 



The entomologist has always been an in- 

 teresting phenomenon to a large part of our 

 population. Insects of beauty are attract- 

 ive, those of large size are curious, while 

 many of the minuter forms are efBcient in 

 gaining attention. But that men should 

 devote their lives to the study of the unat- 

 tractive forms is to many a riddle. Yet 

 Entomology yields to no branch of science 

 in the importance of its economic bearings. 

 The study of the life habits of insects, their 

 development, their food, their enemies, a 

 study involving such minute detail as to 

 shut men off from many of the pleasures 

 of life and to convert them into typical stu- 

 dents, has come to be so fraught with rela- 

 tions to the public weal that the State En- 

 tomologist's mail has more anxious letters 

 than that of any other ofiicer. 



Insects are no longer regarded as visita- 

 tions from an angry deity, to be borne in 

 silence and with penitential awe. The in- 

 timate study of individual groups has 

 taught in many cases how to antagonize 

 them. The scab threatened to destroy 

 orange culture in California ; the Colorado 

 beetle seemed likely to ruin one of our im- 



portant food crops ; minute aphides terrified 

 raisers of fruit and cane in the Sandwich 

 Islands. But the scab is no longer a fright- 

 ful burden in California ; the potato bug is 

 now only an annoyance, and the introduc- 

 tion of lady birds swept aphides from the 

 Sandwich Islands. The gypsy moth, be- 

 lieved for more than a hundred years to be 

 a special judgment, is no longer thought of 

 as more than a very expensive nviisance. 

 The curculio, the locust, the weevil, the 

 chinch bug and others have been subjected 

 to detailed investigation. In almost all 

 cases methods have been devised whereby 

 the ravages have been diminished. Even 

 the borers, which endangered some of the 

 most important timber species, are now 

 understood and the possibility of their ex- 

 termination has been changed into proba- 

 bility. 



Having begun with the ' infinitely great,' 

 we may close this summary with a reference 

 to the ' infinitely small.' The study of fer- 

 mentation processes was attractive to chem- 

 ists and naturalists, each claiming ownership 

 of the agencies. Pasteur, with a patience 

 almost incredible, revised the work of his 

 predecessors and supplemented it with 

 original investigations, proving that a very 

 great part of the changes in organic sub- 

 stances exposed to the atmosphere are due 

 primarily to the influence of low animals 

 or plants whose germs exist in the atmos- 

 phere. 



One may doubt whether Pasteur had any 

 conception of the possibilities hidden in his 

 determination of the matters at issue. The 

 canning of meats and vegetables is no longer 

 attended with uncertainty, and scurvy is no 

 longer the bane of explorers; pork, which has 

 supplied material for the building of rail- 

 roads, the digging of canals, the construc- 

 tion of ships, can be eaten without fear. 

 Flavorless butter can be rendered delicious 

 by the introduction of the proper bactei-ia ; 

 sterilized milk saves the lives of many chil- 



