704 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 882 



the harmonious adjustment of the inter- 

 nal mechanism. 



The practitioner should not be blamed 

 too severely for a certain amount of em- 

 piricism. Physiology has not yet solved all 

 of its problems and until the solution is 

 forthcoming a strictly rational treatment 

 of all diseases is impossible. 



If my meaning has been clearly ex- 

 pressed, it should be apparent that physiol- 

 ogy is a living science and is concerned 

 with the manifestations of life; its action 

 is cooperative, not only to the tissues in an 

 individual organism, but in a broader sense 

 to the other biological sciences ; it is funda- 

 mental especially to pathology and medi- 

 cine, and, cooperating with them, seeks to 

 conserve the general health of animals and 

 man. 



PiEREE A. Pish 



Cornell Univeesity 



ADDITIONAL FACTS ABOUT THE CHEST- 

 NUT BLIGHT 



Through a desire to be as concise as pos- 

 sible, the early history of the chestnut blight 

 investigation in Pennsylvania was not given 

 in my recent account in Science. As there 

 seems to be a demand for the facts, the follow- 

 ing is submitted: 



On June 13, 1908, Professor John W. 

 Harshberger received a letter from Mr. Harold 

 Peirce, of Haverford, asking if the Univer- 

 sity of Pennsylvania could detail a man to 

 investigate the work of a borer, or of a fungus, 

 on the chestnut trees in his woodland at 

 Haverford. Under date of June 18, 1908, Mr. 

 Peirce arranged for Professor Harshberger to 

 inspect his trees with a view to discovering 

 the cause of their disease. As a result of the 

 microscopic study, it was found that the trees 

 were attacked by the chestnut blight fungus 

 recently described by Dr. Murrill, of New 

 York. Thus Mr. Peirce became deeply in- 

 terested and called together a number of pub- 

 lic-spirited citizens. Several public meetings 

 were held at which Professor John Mickle- 



borough and Professor Harshberger gave an 

 account of the life history of the fungus and 

 what might be done to stay the advance of 

 the blight. Subsequently, at the suggestion 

 of Professor Harshberger, a committee of the 

 Main Line Citizens' Association requested 

 the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry to 

 assist in inspecting the chestnut trees in the 

 neighborhood of Bryu Mawr and Haverford. 

 On May 3, 1910, a meeting was held at the 

 house of Mr. Eobert W. Lesley, at which 

 meeting, in response to their request, the 

 Deputy Commissioner of Forestry (the under- 

 signed) met with the committee and formu- 

 lated the chestnut blight campaign. As a re- 

 sult of the agitation, the committee of the 

 Main Line Citizens' Association, consisting of 

 Messrs. Harold Peirce (Chairman), Theodore 

 N. Ely, Allan Evans, Edgar C. Felton, Wil- 

 liam Eighter Fisher, Alba B. Johnson and 

 Eobert W. Lesley, under date of August 1, 

 1910, issued an appeal to the property holders 

 of their neighborhood for money to make a 

 preliminary inspection. 



The response was a generous one, so that 

 the committee secured the assistance of Mr. 

 George H. Wirt, state forest inspector, and a 

 force of student foresters from the State For- 

 est Academy at Mont Alto, under the direction 

 of the writer, while Professor John W. Harsh- 

 berger, of the Botanical Department of the 

 University, agreed to assist as fungolist and 

 botanist. Mr. Clarence E. Cornman, of 

 Gladwyne, represented the committee in the 

 active field work, while Mr. Oglesby Paul also 

 aided the committee with counsel and advice. 



On September 1, 1910, the inspectors from 

 Mont Alto arrived and headquarters were 

 opened in the Merion Title & Trust Company 

 Building in Ardmore. As the work of in- 

 spection proceeded the Main Line Citizens' 

 Committee realized that the work had assumed 

 a national scope. At the suggestion of Pro- 

 fessor Harshberger, the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture was requested to co- 

 operate and a favorable reply to that request 

 was received on November 1, 1910, from Dr. 

 Haven Metcalf, in charge of the office of for- 

 est pathology. Bureau of Plant Industry. 



