300 PHYLLOXERA VASTATRIX, OR 
vines of France and Portugal, and instructing me to 
make a report upon it. 
Tins insect, which seems to have been first ob- 
served in the course of the year 18G8 among the vine- 
yards of the Rhone, is said to feed on the juices of the 
most tender roots, and, by cutting off the flow of sap 
at its fountains, to cause the death of the vine. 
I am not aware that it has been found in this part 
of France, although reports of its existence here were 
not wanting as far back as 1870. There can be no 
doubt that, as the situation of the evil is of very 
difficult access to an} T topical application, the introduc- 
tion here of an insect of such enormous multiplying 
functions would have been a constant subject of refer- 
ence by the local newspapers. 
Not, however, to trust to my own accidental means 
of knowledge, I have addressed a letter to the Prefect 
of this department, and to the President of the 
Chamber of Commerce of Bordeaux, begging them to 
furnish me with any information upon the question 
that they may possess ; and I will lose no time in for- 
warding their answers to your Excellency. 
I return the copy of the Lisbon communication 
inclosed in your Excellency's despatch. 
I have, &c, 
(Signed) Thomas Carew Hunt. 
[Inclosure 2 in No. 4.] 
Consul T. G. Hunt to Lord Lyons. 
Bordeaux, 15th July, 1872. 
My Lord, 
With reference to my despatch of the 2nd instant 
on. the subject of the insect Phylloxera vastatrix. 
