THE MEDITERRANEAN NATURALIST 
215 
fresh and the preserved fish, and he points out 
the principal causes of price fluctations. 
The Vine Disease in Sicily. 
The average price at which the fresh fish sell is 
35 francs per hundredweight on the beach; but 
when preserved in oil and packed in barrels it 
fetches 130 francs per hundredweight at the 
fishing stations. In the season these prices rise, 
and the fish often sell in Genoa at 200 francs per 
cwt. In Sardinia the fishing season usually 
begins on the first of May, and lasts till the end of 
June; but in Sicily it does not commence till the 
20th of May and terminates about the 10th of July. 
A tunny fishery equipment consisting of nets 
and boats costs from thirty thousand to sixty 
thousand francs, but many of the stations with 
stores and apparatus represent a value of several 
hundreds of thousands of francs. 
The work of watching for the fish is very 
exciting. After the nets are laid the fishermen 
station themselves, and wait the arrival of the 
shoals. When the sea is smooth the approach of 
the fish is heralded by a movement of the surface 
waters, but when this is not possible, a number 
of wires with small weights attached are cast 
into the sea and are held at one extremity by 
the men. 
The passage of the fish is then known by the 
grazing of their bodies against the wires. As soon 
as the shoal is well within the area of operation, 
the nets are closed, and the fish are kept confined 
until the time comes for hauling in. 
Occasionally great damage and loss is caused by 
the imprisonment, with the shoal, of a dolphin 
or shark. The former is especially dreaded owing 
to its activity, for it seldom fails in breaking its 
way through the nets, and with it, often goes the 
greater portion of the imprisoned tunny. 
To guard against such a contretemp, additional 
nets are always kept in readiness, to prevent the 
i escape of the fish, and to enable the fishermen to 
effect the necessary repairs in the broken nets. 
The paper concludes with detailed descriptions of 
the various methods adopted for preserving the 
fish, and for extracting the oil contained in them. 
Valletta, 20th June 1892. 
To the 
Editor of the “Mediterranean Naturalist” 
Dear Sir, 
At this time when the “Peronospora” is com- 
mitting such ravages on the West Coast of Sicily, 
it may be useful to read the following brief de- 
scription of this scourge as well as to study the 
remedy prescribed, in the event of this disease 
paying a visit to our Islands where there are 
already considerable vineyards making good pro- 
gress. You may consider it worth while giving it 
to the readers of your valuable journal. 
Henry Twelves. 
The “Peronospora” is, so to speak, a mouldiness 
or fungus which is developed on the green parts 
of the vine. 
It is chiefly to be found on the leaves and the 
budding bunches of grapes near maturity. 
The Peronospora is detected on the leaf by 
white spots on the underside, which afterwards 
become reddish brown. 
Not wishing to depend entirely upon the symp- 
toms presented to the view in this disease, one 
can have recourse to the smell, rubbing a diseased 
leaf between the fingers. If it emits a smell like 
that of a rotten fish, it is beyond all doubt that 
the vine is attacked with Peronospora 
This fungus disorganises the plant and causes 
the leaves to fall, dried and rotten. It is propa- 
gated by means of microscopical spores or germs 
which are of two species, the summer and the 
winter ones. The summer spores develop with 
extraordinary rapidity and in enormous quantities. 
They live but a few hours or at the most a few 
days, whilst the winter spores retain their germi- 
nating faculties for several months, resisting the 
action of cold and damp, even when the leaf which 
houses them in rotten. 
The great damage done the vines by the Pero- 
nospora is well known. 
The Spring infection causes more damage than 
the others, because it attacks the new leaves and 
fresh bunches; and the Autumn one is also di- 
sastrous, as, by causing the leaves to fall, it 
prevents the proper ripening of the grapes. 
