September 20, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



197 



suming that an increase of less than half a million bales in the ag- 

 gregate crop would have made but little difference in price, the 

 actual money loss to the farmers of Texas in one year from the 

 cotton worm alone was $11,897,960. It is not claimed that these 

 •figures are absolutely accurate, but they are undoubtedly approxi- 

 mately correct, and will give some idea of the enormous tribute 

 levied upon American agriculture by injurious insects. In that 

 year Texas produced but twenty-one per cent of the cotton crop of 

 the country, and the cotton caterpillar and boll worm were active 

 in all sections of the cotton belt. The injury elsewhere may not 

 hare been so heavy, but it would swell the aggregate loss in one 

 •crop to startling proportions. 



— The harsh measures adopted by the Russian Government to- 

 wards the extirpation of German educational landmarks in the 

 Russian Baltic provinces, have been recorded from time to time. 

 There are now two more such ukases to chronicle. The first and 

 •vitally important one is the closing of the Deutsche Lehrerseminar 

 in Dorpat, which has existed for over sixty years, and served the 

 purpose of training teachers for the elementary schools in the Bal- 

 tic towns. The institution had been developing great usefulness 

 ■during the last twenty-five years especially. The other ukase for- 

 bids the working of the Evangelical-Lutheran Society, which had 

 lately been founded for charitable purposes. 



— The French Government has made Professor C. V. Riley a 

 •chevalier of the Legion of Honor, as a deserved compliment for his 

 •effective studies in economical entomology. His researches have 

 not only been of advantage to the farmers and fruit-growers of the 

 United States, says Garden and Forest, but he discovered that the 

 phylloxera was an American insect, and identical with the pest 

 which had proved so disastrous to French vineyards. He also in- 

 troduced into France the spraying-nozzle which bears his name, 

 and which, with certain modifications, is used in that country to 

 counteract the mildew of the vine. 



— Dr. Eduard Bodemann of Hanover has just published the cor- 

 respondence of Leibnitz, which until now had lain buried in the 

 Royal Library of that town. The author gives a minute descrip- 

 tion of this great literary treasure, the value of which will be easily 

 understood from the fact that more than 153,000 letters had to be 

 perused and edited, and that the number of persons, scholars, 

 statesmen, and royal personages with whom Leibnitz corresponded 

 amounts to 1,028. 



— The commission appointed to inquire into the scheme for 

 making Paris a seaport has now issued its report. In this it is 

 stated that the canal is of a nature to increase the commercial ac- 

 tivity of France by bringing Paris into more direct communication 

 with the great producing centres, and would in particular enable 

 the city to compete with Antwerp, the commerce of which, it is 

 said, is increasing year by year, to the detriment of French ports. 

 No insuperable engineering difficulties are to be encountered, and 

 even taking the most pessimistic estimate of the cost, viz., 200,- 

 ■000,000 francs, it is believed that the traffic would be sufficient 

 from the very commencement to earn interest on this. French es- 

 timates of the expenses of canal construction will, however, be re- 

 ceived with some caution after the gigantic fiasco of Panama. Pro- 

 •ceeding, the report goes on to say that the heavy sacrifices made 

 by France in the past few years have not succeeded in meeting the 

 <:ompetition of Antwerp, the trade of which has risen in a few 

 years from 1,000,000 to 7,000,000 tons, and affirms that the only 

 •chance of doing so now is by rendering Paris accessible to sea- 

 going vessels. It is further stated that in the event of another war 

 it would be impossible to starve out Paris, as in 1871, were the 

 canal made ; though it is not easy to see the grounds of this state- 

 ment, as one would think that the canal could be blocked without 

 much difficulty. The canal would be 180 kilometres long; and a 

 depth of 6.2 metres is proposed for the channel, the breadth of 

 which at the bottom should be half as wide again as at Suez. The 

 spoil from the excavation could, it is said, be advantageously dis- 

 posed of in raising the level of some low-lying lands along the 

 banks of the Seine. Whether the work will be undertaken by the 

 government remains to be seen ; but it is. on the whole, unlikely, 

 as the engineers of the Seine are said to be opposed to the scheme ; 



and, if the government do not take it up, no other body in France 

 will, of that we may be certain. 



— School-gardens, i.e., gardens for practical instruction in rear- 

 ing trees, vegetables, and fruit, are being added to nearly all the 

 public and private schools of Austria. There are now already 

 7,769 such in existence in the Austrian monarchy alone, Hungary 

 not included. They also comprise botanical museums, and appli- 

 ances for bee-keeping. 



— We learn from Nature that a report on the appearance of the 

 Hessian-fly in England, by Mr. Charles Whitehead, the agricultu- 

 ral adviser, has been issued by the Agricultural Department of the 

 Privy Council. The fly was first seen in 1886 in Great Britain, 

 and in that year did some harm to wheat and barley plants in Eng- 

 land and Scotland. In 1887 it was noticed in twenty counties in 

 England and ten in Scotland, wheat and barley crops being consid- 

 erably damaged by its action. The weather during the summer of 

 1887 was hot and dry, like that which normally prevails in Ameri- 

 ca, and was presumably favorable to the development and progress 

 of the fly. During 1888, when the summer was unusually wet and 

 cold, very little was heard or seen of the Hessian-fly either in Eng- 

 land or Scotland ; but during the early months of the present year 

 the temperature was high and the rainfall small, and, from the re- 

 ports received by the Agricultural Department, the infested area 

 has largely increased in England. In Scotland it does not appear 

 to have made so much progress, still it is present in many Scotch 

 counties. The actual amount of injury to the crops is slight, and, 

 so far as can be ascertained, is not in any instance so important as 

 that caused in some cases in 1887. It is most probable that the 

 injurious operations of the insect have been checked by the wet, 

 cold weather which has followed the abnormal heat of May, and 

 the warmth and dryness of June. When a cycle of hot summers 

 occurs, it may happen that the ravages of the Hessian-fly may be 

 general and calamitous. Mr. Whitehead therefore urges the de- 

 sirability of careful watching, and the prompt adoption of simple 

 methods, which he describes, for preventing the increase of the 

 pest. 



— In his last report, the British vice-consul at Nisch mentions 

 the terrible havoc which is being made by disafforestation in Servia 

 since its independence. He says that during the Turkish occupa- 

 tion Servia was covered with magnificent forests of oak, beech, 

 chestnut, and walnut trees, by means of which the country was 

 assured of a regular and plentiful supply of water, and in the re- 

 cesses of which the natives found shelter, and refuge from their 

 foreign conquerors. From the date of her independence a destruc- 

 tion of these invaluable treasures commenced which has been car- 

 ried on with remorseless and unreflecting perseverance, and it 

 appears as though there were at the present day a race against 

 time to complete the havoc. From time to time the consciences of 

 ministers and governments have roused them to interfere ; but, 

 beyond passing laws which remain a dead letter, hardly any thing 

 has been done to arrest the evil. Floods in winter, and drought 

 in summer, were declared by Mr. Borchgrave, in 1883, to have al- 

 ready begun to exact the penalty which carelessness or want of 

 foresight must be called upon to pay ; but the peasant and his 

 goats continue their work of destruction, while the authorities are 

 apparently more anxious to avoid occasions of discontent which 

 restrictive measures would create than of applying such remedies as 

 legislation has placed in their hands. Whole mountains may be 

 seen completely denuded of timber, with the exception of a low 

 worthless scrub, which were, a fcAf years ago, covered with woods, 

 but which have fallen victims to the innumerable herds of goat* 

 which are allowed to browse at will. The peasants among whom 

 the land was divided at the time of the Servian independence have 

 cleared vast tracts for the purposes of agriculture, and possess the 

 right of cutting timber for firewood in those forests which are 

 under the management of the different communes. Very little 

 coal is used for household purposes, and the amount of wood re- 

 quired for daily consumption adds enormously to the drain on the 

 national resources. The best-wooded parts of Servia are the dis- 

 tricts of the south and south-east, but especially the department of 

 Toplitza, which may be said to contain the only remaining virgin 

 forests of Servia, and whence are annually drawn large supplies of 



