Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1874. 357 
diseases affecting the pig, and the history of the malady in this 
, country, as also on the Continent, distinctly shows that at times 
it assumes an epizootic character. This was especially the case 
! in 1865, when the especial attention of the Society was called to 
the subject by Dr. W. Budd, of Clifton, and myself. Dr. Budd 
, read at that time a valuable paper on the disease at one of the 
Society's meetings, which was followed by an important and in- 
' structive discussion. This paper, with illustrations of the lesions 
produced by the malady, especially in the intestinal canal, will be 
found in Vol. I., 2nd Series, of the Society's ' Journal,' to which 
I would direct the attention of the members of the Society. 
) The spread of the disease in Somersetshire has been clearly 
1 traced in several instances to the sale of infected pigs in the 
' markets of the county ; and in one case, the last which has 
I been reported to me, the malady was carried to a herd of healthy 
( pigs by a butcher's man who had been called to a diseased animal 
for the purpose of slaughtering and dressing it for sale. It 
would appear that already in the neighbourhood of Bath some- 
thing like two hundred pigs have fallen a sacrifice to typhoid 
fever. Preventive measures, and essentially isolation and dis- 
infection, will alone avail to keep this fatal disease in check. 
(Signed) J. B. SiMONDS. 
XII. — Annual Report of the Consulting Botanist for 1874. 
The investigations instituted into the nature of ergot, its occur- 
rence in pastures, and the injuries produced by it to brood- 
animals have been completed during the past year, and the re- 
sults published in the last number of the Journal of the Society. 
The experiments on the cultivation of the potato, and the 
incidence of the potato-disease, have also occupied my time 
and attention. At the request of the Special Committee ap- 
pointed in connexion with this subject, I visited all the experi- 
mental crops during the months of July and August, besides 
acting as judge in the districts of the south of England. The 
observations made during this inspection, together with the 
books of the growers and the reports of the judges, which have 
been placed in my hands, are being employed in the preparation 
of a report embodying the information as to the growth of the 
same varieties of potato under different treatment, and in different 
soils and localities, and the times and conditions under which the 
disease appeared. This report will appear in the autumn number 
of the ' Journal,' its preparation having involved so much calcu- 
lation, and other time-consuming work, that I have been unable 
to complete it in time for publication in the spring number. 
