348 Canadian Record of Science. 
point the general principles indicated by one more fact. 
The ravages of the Phylloxera have for many years proved 
a most serious obstacle to the successful cultivation of the 
vine in many parts of Hurope, and the French Government 
have at various times had their attention seriously drawn 
to the devastations of this insect; but the efforts thus far 
made, appear to have led to no very substantial results. 
In the course of investigations relative to the nutrition of the 
grape, Dr. Goessmann found that an abundant supply of 
food of an available form, served in a most marked degree 
to overcome the ravages of the Phylloxera. The results 
were of so striking a character as to attract the attention 
of the French Commissioner then inspecting the vineyards 
of the United States, and he freely expressed the opinion 
that, although the vines were fairly over-run with the pest, 
he had never seen more healthy looking foliage, better 
growth or finer looking fruit. The whole principle under- 
lying this result is that, if we can. feed the plant, and at the 
same time provide an abundance of food for the parasite in 
excess of what the plant needs for its own growth, the 
latter will be much less liable to suffer. 
In conclusion, I would direct attention to one more of the ' 
many interesting aspects which this subject presents, and 
that is the relation of nutrition to improvements in plants, 
and more particularly of their fruits or seed bearing parts— 
those products of the vegetable world which are of the 
highest value to man as articles of diet. 
We commonly speak of plants as cultivated and un- 
cultivated or wild, and in doing so we make a broad dis- 
tinction even between plants of exactly the same species. 
This distinction is that, under certain improved conditions 
of life, the plant has become so modified as to present pecu- 
liarities which it did not possess in the wild state, while it 
also has an increased capacity as a food producer. Such a 
change, under the ordinary conditions of cultivation, is in 
most cases avery slow process, but as an essential factor, 
- werecognise the supply of food of better quality and in 
more available form—in general terms, improved conditions 
