Thursday,  December  8,  1904. 
235 
weeds,  and  4 with  suitable  mixtures  to  be  employed  in  laying 
down  land  to  pasture.  The  diseases  of  plants  caused  by  Fungi 
were  reported  on,  and  methods  of  treatment  were  prescribed. 
No  less  than  27  different  Fungi  were  in  this  connection 
investigated.  The  remaining  inquiries  were  of  a varied 
character. 
18.  Among  the  injurious  insects  which  have  been  the 
subject  of  imjuiry  during  the  last  six  months,  various  species 
of  aphis  have  been  especially  prominent,  the  prolonged  dry 
weather  in  the  summer  having  been  especially  favourable  to 
aphis  attack.  Cases  of  somewhat  severe  injury  to  peas  by  a 
midge,  Diplosis  jjisi,  were  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Zoologist. 
This  pest  has  hitherto  attracted  no  attention  in  England.  The 
disease  of  “ big  bud  ” in  black  currants  has,  as  usual,  been 
complained  of  in  many  quarters.  Several  Members  of  the 
Society  have  made  inquiry  as  to  where  mite-free  plants  can 
be  obtained,  but  none  have  asked  for  inspection  with  a view  to 
supplying  bushes  free  from  disease.  A group  of  mites,  the 
Tarsonemidce,  which  from  their  importance  to  horticulturists 
appear  to  deserve  much  more  attention  than  they  have  hitherto 
received,  has  lately  been  under  investigation. 
19.  The  official  returns  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  for  the 
past  six  months  show  that  appreciable  progress  has  been  made 
towards  the  extermination  of  swine-fever.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  outbreaks  of  anthrax  have  been  more  nximei-ous  than  in 
the  same  period  of  last  year,  and  the  returns  to  date  threaten  to 
make  the  present  year  the  worst,  with  regard  to  glanders,  since 
1892.  During  the  past  six  months  300  specimens  have  been 
forwarded  to  the  Research  Laboratory  at  the  Royal  Veterinary 
College  for  examination.  During  the  same  period  a number 
of  experiments  bearing  on  the  method  of  infection  in  glanders 
and  on  epizootic  lymphangitis  have  been  carried  out. 
20.  As  the  result  of  the  examination  of  students  of  the 
Royal  Veterinary  College  in  Cattle  Pathology,  including  the 
diseases  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  pigs,  Mr.  Reginald  L.  Phillips, 
of  Glenleigh,  Mai’azion,  Cornwall,  has  been  awarded  the 
Society’s  Silver  Medal,  and  Mr.  Ralph  Bennett,  of  13 
Eastern  Road,  Romford,  Essex,  the  Bronze  Medal. 
21.  An  Agricultural  Education  Exhibition  was  again  organ- 
ised by  the  Societj^  in  connection  with  the  Show  at  Park 
Royal.  In  addition  to  the  Society’s  own  exhibits  from  the 
Woburn  Experimental  Station  and  Hanover  Square,  collections 
were  sent  by  the  Lawes  Agricultural  Trust,  the  Cambridge 
University  Agricultural  Department,  the  Essex  County  Council, 
the  South-Eastern  and  Harper-Adams  Agricultural  Colleges, 
the  Midland  Agricultural  and  Dairy  Institute,  and  the  Univer- 
sity Colleges  of  Reading  and  Aberystwyth.  At  this  Exhibition 
