MARCH 29, 1901. ] 
but not fully described until 1863, when John- 
son obtained another specimen in that locality. 
Two other specimens have since been found at 
the surface (near the island of Dominica and 
on the Lehave Bank). The Chailenger took 
another with the trawl at a depth of 1,500 
fathoms in the mid-Atlantic. 
-Chiasmodon is remarkable for its large mouth 
and distensible stomach, enabling it to swallow 
fishes larger than itself. For most of the fore- 
going specimens, naturalists are indebted to 
the inability of the fish to digest what it swal- 
lows, resulting in its death and appearance at 
the surface. H. M. Soir. 
U. §. Fish CoMMIssION, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
THE SAN JOSE SCALE PROBLEM AS COMPARED 
WITH THE ORANGE SCALE PROBLEM. 
I wAs much interested in the communication 
of Professor Kellogg in the issue of ScIENCE for 
March 8, 1901. Of course the practical value 
of Mr. Kuwana’s investigations is in the in- 
creased probability of our being able to import 
from Japan the natural enemies of the San José 
scale, and thus control the pest here, as was 
done in case of the Icerya. It is, therefore, of 
interest to see where we now stand in the matter 
of information, on which to base a second 
experiment in importing into this country para- 
sitic enemies of scale insects. I copy the fol- 
lowing lines from Professor Kellogg’s communi- 
cation : 
* * * “Tt the [San José scale] is attacked by 
several enemies, Mr. Kuwana perSonally finding one 
chalcid, three lady-bird beetles and one moth, the 
larva of which feeds on the scale. Of these enemies 
the chalcid fly and one of the lady-bird beetles are 
everywhere common, and are effective checks to the 
increase of the scale. It is probable that the com- 
paratively little injury produced by the scale in 
Japan, widespread a3 it is, is due to the presence of 
these natural enemies.’? * * * 
By the side of this information may be placed 
the following, extracted from the Adelaide, 
South Australia ‘Garden and Field’ of Novem- 
ber, 1887, by the late Mr. Frazer S. Crawford, 
who, from first to last, gave such efficient aid in 
bringing about the introduction of the Vedalia 
lady beetle that suppressed the’ Orange scale in 
California. 
* * * “We have afew species of Coccinellide 
SCLENCE. 
511 
about Adelaide, but they are not very plentiful, and 
although one or more species attacks the Jcerya, yet 
they are not very effective in keeping them under, as 
the following experiment proves. Three months ago 
I put in a glass bottle a small branch of a gooseberry 
tree, on which some forty or fifty adult Iceryas were 
clustered. On examining them subsequently I dis- 
covered two lady-bird larvze, which have lived to the 
present time feasting on the Jcerya, evidently con- 
tented with their quarters ; but at the present time 
there are likewise a great number of young larve, 
lately hatched, running about, thus showing that the 
work of destruction has been very slow, and that 
eyen under such favorable circumstances the cocci- 
nelle larvee cannot cope with the productive power 
of the Icerya. Strange to say, a similar twig, covered 
with about the same number of adult females, was 
about the same date placed in a lemon tree, and a 
fortnight back every vestige of Icerya had disappeared. 
This clearance was gradual, but what has caused it 
I am at a loss to say.’? * * * 
It must be remembered that this was written 
one year prior to Mr. Keoheles starting for 
Australia on his first trip. It will thus be seen 
that Mr. Kuwana has thrown a flood of light 
upon this problem which I can only look upon 
as very similar to the one in which Jcerya was 
involved, and afterwards so effectually solved. 
As I read of the conditions of the San José scale 
in Japan, as relating to numbers and effect, it 
seemed to coincide exactly with the mental 
picture that I could not banish from me when 
I went over some infested nursery stock two or 
three years ago, just received direct from Japan. 
While I had practically nothing to do with the 
introduction of the Vedalia, I did examine many 
orange groves about Adelaide, South Australia, 
for the Jcerya and found a similar condition— 
only here and there a solitary individual, at 
most two or three together. 
We can make a defensive fight against the San 
José scale with whale oil soap, petroleum, the 
axe and fire, in fact we must do so, in order to 
save our orchards from ruin ; but we Shall never 
be able by these measures to do more than check 
the pest. If we ever expect to do more than 
this we must make an offensive fight and with 
natural enemies brought from the country where 
they are found doing their work and holding this 
pest perpetually below the danger line in point 
of numbers. F. M. WEBSTER. 
WoosTER, OHIO, March 12, 1901. 
