360 



for the Advaucement of Science, is in favor of issuing a call and organ- 

 izing at tlie forthcoming meeting of the American Association which will 

 be held in Toronto in Augnst. It seems to us, that it will be an excel- 

 lent idea to discuss the question thoroughly in all its bearings at this 

 meeting, and, if possible, to permanently organize. 



The Cave Fauna of North America.— Entomologists will be greatly inter- 

 ested in Dr. Packard's extensive memoir just published entitled "Cave 

 Fauna of North America, with remarks on the anatomy of the brain 

 and origin of the blind species," inasmuch as a large proportion of the 

 animals treated are insects, arachnids, and myriapods. It is an oc- 

 tavo paper published by the National Academy of Sciences and has 156 

 pages with 27 plates and 21 text figures, together with a map of Mam- 

 moth Cave. We commend a perusal of this paper to the eminent as- 

 tronomer who suggested that American cave insects should be much 

 larger than those of Europe because our caves were the biggest in the 

 world ! 



The Beetle which lived in an Insecticide. — Mr, Webster informs us bv 

 letter that the hellebore in which two adults of Tenehrioides mauritanica 

 were found to have tunneled for a long time, as recorded upon page 

 314 of the April number of Insect Life, has recently been tried at 

 Lafayette upon gooseberry bushes infested by the Imported Currant- 

 worm, with the result that it was found to have retained sufficient 

 strength to destroy the larvae. This makes his former observation more 

 satisfactory. 



Bulletin on Root-knot Disease in Florida.— We are jUSt putting through 

 the press Bulletin No. 20 of this Division, which is entitled "The 

 Root knot Diseiise of the Peach, Orange, and other Plants in Flor- 

 ida, due to the Work of Anguillula," by Dr. J. C. Neal, the present 

 entomologist of the Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. The 

 publication of this bulletin has been somewhat delayed, as Dr. Neal's 

 observations were mainly made during the early part of 1888, but his 

 results have not been anticipated by other observers. The character 

 and extent of the damage done by these "Eel worms" will surprise 

 those who hav^e not studied them in the South, and we expect that the 

 practical results of Dr. Neal's short investigation will be great. 



The wide-spread and abundant rains late in May of the present year 

 seem to have accomplished the usual result of greatly lessening the 

 numbers of Chinch Bugs in localities from which they were early 

 reported. 



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