(a) Bacteria are found in great abundance in actively blighting tissues, so as to be easily demonstrable to the naked eye, and occur in less abundance in proportion as the disease is less active, (b) The disease may be introduced into healthy tissue by inoculation with germs from diseased tissue, (c) It is communicated with equal certainty when the germs are separated from all accompanying juices of the diseased tissue by a series of fractional cultures, (d) Per contra, it is not communicated by the juices of the disease, after the germs are removed by filtration. (e) The germs connected with the disease constitute a single species, which is essential to successful inoculation, (f) Per contra, the numerous other species of earth, air and water are not found to a noticeable extent in connection with the disease, and cannot be made to originate it by inoculation, or otherwise".

We give this, as the " leading horticultural journal " referred to, as we always do, as a matter of justice to an interesting subject, on which the true searcher for truth does not care which side has the best of the argument. We would only remark that the extract does not do justice to the views of the Editor. He was among the first to believe that low grades of fungi were at the bottom of fire-blight, and believes so yet. But the belief is founded on analogy chiefly, rather than actual demonstration. It is true that the extremely useful labors of Profs. Burrill and Arthur have brought the facts nearer to a demonstration than they have ever been before; for this they should have full credit.

The point on which we have expressed our desire to be satisfied is this: It is contended that fire-blight is caused by germs of a species of bacterium, which fasten themselves to the bark, and in germinating, penetrate the " pores," as people commonly say, and then destroy the tissue, producing the disease. The proof of this should be to apply the germs from the diseased tissue in like manner to the surface of the bark, and let the spores penetrate of themselves as they would in nature. This has not been done. But the tissue is first injured by a puncture, and the diseased germs applied to the injured tissue. We maintain that this is not a parallel case - is not demonstration; and we do not know that the testy comment on our slowness to grasp a fundamental truth makes the facts any clearer.