724 
FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
Use of the Condurango Bark in Cancer. — Ac- 
cording to the British Medical Journal the use of the Con- 
durango bark in cases of cancer has been attended with no 
beneficial result. So much had been said of the therapeutic 
properties of the bark in cancerous diseases that the Govern- 
ment, through the College of Physicians, furnished a supply 
of it for trial to St. Bartholomew’s and the Middlesex Hos- 
pitals. Neither constitutionally nor locally does it seem to 
have any special effect. 
Fungoid Disease of Esculent Vegetables. — Para- 
sitic fungoid disease would seem to be on the increase among 
our esculent vegetables. According to the Globe a most serious 
disease of the kind has attacked the asparagus, more fatal 
in its results than that which affects the vine or the potato. 
Both the stems and the roots are the seat of the development 
of microscopic fungi, and the smell which accompanies the 
destruction of the plant, through their agency, is described as 
being equally offensive as that belonging to rotten potatoes. 
One gentleman in the West of England, to whom the Globe is 
indebted for its knowledge of the subject, has had twenty 
acres of asparagus destroyed by the disease. Both the pro- 
gress of the affection, and the indications of its attack are 
very similar to those of the potato disease. 
Statistical Return of Live Stock in Great Britain 
on June 25. 
Cattle. 
Sheep. 
Pigs. 
1869 
5,313,473 
29,538,141 
1,930,452 
1870 
5,403,317 
28,397,589 
2,171,138 
1871 
5,339,332 
27,132,898 
2,499,889 
Increase (+) 
Decrease ( 
-) 
1871 
— 63,985 
— 1,264,691 
+ 328,751 
over 
or 
or 
or 
1870 
1‘2 per cent. 
4‘5 per cent. 
15 ‘1 per cent. 
1871 
+ 25,859 
— 2,405,243 
+ 569,437 
over 
or 
or 
or 
1869 
0*5 per cent. 
8'1 per cent. 
29*5 per cent. 
Statistical Department, Sept. 15, 1871. 
