430 
HET MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
Genoa; but it died in a few days. In the 
stomach were found four fish-hooks of differ- 
ent sizes together with fragments of the 
lines. The largest hook measured 3| inches 
in length. 
It has been computed that upwards of 
1,000,000 lbs. of grapes have this season 
been gathered in the Malta vineyards. If 
there be any truth in the old Turkish adage 
that “ there is a devil in every grape ” what 
a paudemonium Malta and its dependencies 
must be. 
Ix many parts of the province of Canton, 
China, the orange trees are infested with a 
species of worm, and to rid themselves of 
these pests the natives import ants into the 
groves. The ants are captured by holding 
the mouth of a lard-bladder to their nests. 
They are then placed among the branches 
of the orange-trees, where they form colonies, 
and bamboo rods are laid from tree to 
tree to facilitate their movements from one 
part of the grove to another. 
In Tallack’s “ Malta under the Phenicians, 
Knights, and English ” it it is stated (p. 178) 
that William C. P. Medlycott Esqr, an 
English gentleman who was for some years 
a resident in Malta, devoted much careful 
attention to the birds and fishes of the 
islands; and that he drew a series of very 
accurate coloured representations of the fish 
and crustaceans that had beeu found in 
Maltese waters. Can any of our readers 
inform us of the whereabouts of these 
drawings? 
fjAGLIARJ, in Sardinia, now boasts a 
scientific society which is to be called the 
“Societa tra i cultori delle Scienze mediche 
in Sardegna”. 
We wish it every success; and hope to 
hear from time to time of its, progress. 
An interesting discovery of Phoenician 
remains has we hear, recently been made 
during some excavations at Corradino hill. 
We hope in our next issue to be able to 
give our readers some details of the find. 
The methods and implements used by the 
Maltese agriculturist are of a most primitive 
type, and no inducements that the govern- 
ment may offer will tempt him out of the 
groove in which his forefathers have walked 
since the days of Jacob. The plough, as a 
rule, consists of a pointed piece of wood, 
sometimes shod with iron; and as the cow, ox, 
or mule drags it over the soil, the husband- 
man presses it into the ground and directs 
its course. Equally primitive is the harrow 
which consists, as a rule, of a branch of the 
carob or of whatever other tree may be the 
nearest at hand. 
m 
J, HE current issue of the Botanical Gazette 
contains an interesting note on the causes 
of the splitting of the olive tree. This 
splitting which is very common in Italian, 
as well as in Maltese orchards, Dr. Robert 
Hartig concludes C£ isdue to the decay of the 
tissues occasioned by the attacks of Poly - 
parus falvus Scop, var, Olea. Scop. The 
spores of this fungus gain access to the 
inner tissues of the tree through wounds; 
there they germinate, towards its centre by 
way of the medullary rays,. A white rot 
i 
