ZOOLOGY. 435 
of spike-horned deer of that species which had been recorded. It 
was obtained by Dr. J. H. Janeway. 
EconomicaL Entomo.tocy.— The plant lice affecting the vines to 
such a fearful extent in France, and which in this country have al- 
ready done considerable damage, is still attracting much attention. 
The French Academy, as we learn from the * Revue Scientifique,” 
has offered a prize of twenty thousand francs to encourage studies 
to ascertain a remedy which shall protect the vine without destroy- 
ing it. The best remedy against the Phyllowera, as it is called, is 
the use of phenic acid, a substance much like carbolic acid. The 
French Government has always been alert and liberal in this mat- 
ter of practical entomology, a subject more important to agricul- 
“ture than dreamed of in this country, where it is estimated that 
we lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the at- 
tacks of injurious insects, ete. Two states in the Union—Illinois 
and Missouri have salaried officers, who, with a good knowledge of 
entomology, do much by spreading facts about noxious and bene- 
ficial insects among the people. But the leading agriculturists 
of other states practically, with one or two exceptions, ignore the 
matter. During the past summer the losses of wheat, corn, and 
other crops in the Western States have been enormous. 
farmers in one county in Massachusetts have lost at least fifteen 
thousand dollars’ worth of onions, their most valuable crop, next 
hay, from the attacks of a minute insect, called Thrips. 
This annual loss, much of which could be now prevented, will ac- 
Cumulate in intensity, and be most grievous a century hence, when 
our country will become more densely populated and every grain 
of food will be needed. 
The foresight of the French people, despite the present gloomy 
Views of the “ Revue Scientifique” and “ France Scientifique” over 
the decadence of science among them, is conspicuous in their 
Prompt and scientific treatment of the silk worm disease. Pasteur 
and Quatrefages, and others whose names are illustrious as inves- 
tigators, have been commissioned to study the causes of this dis- 
“ase; and it is now thought, following out the suggestion of Pas- 
teur — the result of profound studies on this subject — that if 
healthy eggs be selected and those infested with the parasitic fun- 
gus be destroyed, silk culture will be again restored in France and 
m Europe. A single silk-raiser, whose worms this year 
