960 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



is necessary to some varieties, while it may not be so to 

 others. 



Point No. 3. The insect may not hasten the maturity 

 of the fruit, but still cause it to set. My pollination ex- 

 periments show that pollination does cause the fig 

 of a certain class to set, and as the caprification is the 

 only -pi-actical way by which this pollination can be pro- 

 duced, this caprification must be necessary for this class 

 of figs, though not for any other class differently con- 

 structed. 



Point 4. The fact that the caprifig loses much of its 

 fruit does not prove caprification an error. It only shows 

 that pollinated fruits are susceptible to influences, climatic 

 and others, which affect the setting of all figs (and all 

 fruits), whether they be Smyrna figs or not. 



Point 5. The causes enumerated as effecting the drop- 

 ping of the fruit, do not exclude other causes from having 

 the same effect. Caprification, if effective under favor- 

 able circumstances, cannot prevent caprificated figs to 

 fall, if climate and soil are unfavorable. If not caprifi- 

 cated, they would, under the above conditions, have fallen, 

 anyhow. 



Point 6. In order to be correct, this point should only 

 refer to some or certain figs, or to all figs similar to those 

 experimented upon. 



Before leaving Gasparrini and his work, I will shortly 

 state what his experiments, so interesting, and laboriously 

 performed, have really proven. 



They have shown us that caprification does not hasten 

 the maturity of the fig. Further, they have proven, that 

 it is not the sting itself of the wasp which influences the 

 setting of the fruit of the edible fig. They also show 

 that many figs, which are regularly caprificated by the fig 

 growers, require no caprification, and that, as far as these 



