434 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVI. No. 402. 



BERTIELLA, NEW N.\ME FOB THE CESTODE GENUS 

 BERTIA BLANCH ABD, 1891. 



The generic name Bertia was proposed by 

 Ancey, 1888, with Nanina cambodgiensis 

 Eeeve, a member of the family Limacidse, as 

 type. Bertea is a genus of diptera. 



In 1891, R. Blanchard, overlooking the fact 

 that the name Bertia was preoccupied, pro- 

 posed it as a name for a cestode genus which 

 has Bertia. Studeri as type species. 



In place of Bertia Blanchard, 1891, we here- 

 with propose Bertiella Stiles & Hassall, 1902 ; 

 which takes Bertiella Studeri (Blanchard 

 1891) as type. 



On a former occasion, we changed the name 

 Levinsenia to Levinseniella on the same no- 

 menclatural grounds (rule of homonyms), and 

 several colleagues have expressed surprise that 

 the new name should be so similar to the old. 

 This selection of the old name as the initial 

 portion of the new name is made deliberately 

 and with a certain definite purpose, namely, 

 in order to produce as little change as possible, 

 both in the name itself and in the position of 

 the generic and specific names in an alphabeti- 

 cal index. It is in line with the change of 

 Trichina to Trichinella, Dicrocmlium lanceo- 

 latum to D. lanceatum, Hcematolcechus similis 

 to S. similig'enus, and with many other 

 changes which have been made. In dealing 

 with a large number of names, we find that 

 such a plan saves much time and trouble, and 

 is not an inconsiderable aid to the memory. 

 These points, in our opinion, greatly outweigh 

 the objection that the genus Trichinella is not 

 a small insect closely related to Trichina. 



The species which should be placed in Ber- 

 tiella are Bertiella Studeri (Blanchard, 1891), 

 B. americana (Stiles, 1895), B. americana 

 leporis (Stiles, 1895), B. conferta (Meyner, 

 1895), B. Delafondi (Eailliet, 1892), B. edulis 

 (Zscholvke, 1898), B. mucronata (Meyner, 

 1895), B. obesa (Zscholdie, 1898), B. plastica 

 (Sluiter, 1896), B. Sarasinorum (Zschokke, 

 1898) and B. satyri (Blanchard, 1891). 



Ch. Wakdell Stiles, 

 Albert Hassall. 

 Washington, D. C. 



notes on canker and black-rot. 



During the sununer of 1901 the leaves on 

 some of the upper branches of several sumacs 

 {Rhus glabra L.) growing on the university 

 campus, were observed to be withering in 

 much the same way as though they had been 

 struck by a blight. An examination of the 

 leaves revealed nothing, but the twigs were 

 found to be affected with 'canker' caused by 

 Sphwropsis rhoina (Schw.) Starb. Some of 

 the larger limbs, too, had been completely 

 girdled by the attacks of the fungus, and this 

 accounted for the drying up and withering 

 of the leaves. Very careful examinations were 

 made in the search for some other cause of 

 the trouble, but none could be found. Cross- 

 and longi-sections of the diseased twigs were 

 made, but aside from the fact that the bark 

 and cambium were injured, they appeared to 

 be in a perfectly normal condition. No borers 

 were found in the specimens examined. 



During the present summer I have been 

 carrying on some experiments to determine 

 whether Sphwropsis rhoina of the sumac and 

 Sphwropsis malorum of the apple may not be 

 the same fungus. The work is not yet com- 

 pleted, but the results so far obtained are 

 very interesting. 



Very briefly, the experiments were carried 

 out as follows : .The first thing done was to 

 compare the growth and development of pyc- 

 nidia in both species. This was accomplished 

 by making poured plates of apple bark agar. 

 Pycnidia obtained from diseased sumac and 

 apple branches were washed in a one-per-cent. 

 aqueous solution of corrosive sublimate, and 

 finally in distilled water before being broken 

 open. Spores were then transferred to Petri 

 dishes by the ordinary dilution process. Both 

 species germinated and grew very rapidly, and 

 in fourteen days typical pycnidia and spores 

 were formed. The cultures proved to be pure 

 and their behavior was identical in every par- 

 ticular. 



At the same time perfectly sound apples 

 were inoculated with spores obtained in the 

 same way. The apples were carefully steril- 

 ized before being inoculated, by immersing 

 them for thirty minutes in a one-per-cent. 

 solution of corrosive sublimate. After inocu- 



