258 
Yet, no method of excluding the light is stated or claimed. On the contrary, they 
declare that it may he done hy means of the oiled tent or covering ordinarily used 
for such fumigation, provided the fumigation is done at night. Of" course, night 
excludes the light. Everybody knows that. Nor is the night patentable. The 
ordinary tent or covering of the old process necessarily excludes, to a greater or 
less degree, depending upon the thickness of* the covering and the extent to which 
it is colored, the actinic rays of light, which is that power of the sun's rays which 
changes the chemical nature of the mixture. So, also, will the clouds, to a greater 
or less degree, exclude*such rays, depending upon the density of the clouds. And, 
after the sun sets and before it rises, they are entirely absent. 
The old process, as described in the specifications, in no manner depends upon the 
time it is used. It consists, as the specification, expressly recites, of fumigating 
trees and plants with hydrocyanic acid gas by,means of the oiled tent or covering. 
Whether used by means of a thin or thick covering, .heavily or lightly oiled, or in 
the twilight, or at night, or in the early morning, it is all the time the same process, 
which the public is entitled to use because it was old when the patentees applied 
for their patent. An old process does not become a new and patentable process by 
being'used at night instead of in "the daytime, or at any particular time, or in any 
particular state of the weather, or because better results are obtained by its use at 
one time than another. 
The court, being of the opinion that the patent is void, for want of novelty and 
invention, and that, in view of its recitals, it is so plainly so that it can not be aided 
by evidence, it snould be so declared on demurrer, without subjecting the parties to 
the costs of producing proof. 
When the announcement was first made public that the patent in 
question had actually been granted, it created no small degree of aston- 
ishment among the fruit-growers in that part of the country; and the 
very general impression prevailed that only by the grossest misrepre- 
sentation could such a result have been brought about. 
As might naturally be expected, the decision of Judge Eoss is a 
most welcome one to the citrus growers of southern California, who 
depend so largely upon the gas process for protecting their trees from 
the ravages of the destructive red scale. While these growers were 
convinced in their own minds 'that the patent was not a valid one, still 
the prospect of a prolonged and expensive litigation deterred several 
from using this process; but now that this incubus has been removed 
the process will evidently come into more general use than was the 
case during the existence of the patent. 
A NEW PEAR INSECT. 
A new and serious enemy to pear trees has recently been discovered 
in New Jersey by Dr. John B. Smith. It is a flat-headed borer of the 
genus Agrilus, and late investigations, following a suggestion made 
by Mr. E. A. Schwarz, of this office, indicate that it is Agrilus sinuatus 
Ol., of Europe, and therefore an introduced species. Dr. Smith shows 
that the larva bores between the bark and the sapwood, always in 
living tissue, and makes extremely long and irregular- galleries, killing 
