THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 113 



which Mr. Trouvelot utilized for this purpose, died rapidly. After two 

 years of a similar calamity, Mr. Trouvelot was obliged to stop his experi- 

 ments, which might have developed, perhaps, a new source of wealth for 

 this country. A similar pest of an indigenous species of moth stopped 

 only last year the interesting observatians of Mr. Siewers in Newport, Ky. 



The common silkworm in Europe has been in recent times extensively 

 affected by a sickness called muscardine, which is also the consequence 

 of a fungus. Similar fatal epizootics have been observed on the honey bee, 

 and in Brazil several years ago nearly all the bees died from this cause. In 

 Entomological journals are reported fatal epizootics of leaf lice, of grasshop- 

 pers, of the cabbage butterfly and of the currant worm, both imported 

 here only a few years ago, and both very obnoxious. 



Considering those facts, which are doubtless true, and considering the 

 easy way in which the poisonous fungus can always and everywhere be 

 procured and adhibited, I believe that I should be justified in proposing 

 to make a trial of it against insect calamities. Nature uses always to 

 attain its purposes the most simple and the most effectual ways ; therefore 

 it is always the safest way to follow nature. 



Beer mash or diluted yeast should be applied either with a syringe or 

 with a sprinkler ; and the fact that infested insects poison others with 

 which they come in contact will be a great help. Of course it will be 

 impossible to destroy all insects, but a certain limit to calamities could 

 be attained, and I think that is all that could reasonably be expected. In 

 greenhouses the result would probably justify very well a trial, and on 

 currant worms and potato bugs the experiment would not be a difficult 

 one, as the larvae of both insects live upon the leaves, which can easily be 

 sprinkled. But it seems to me more important to make the trial with the 

 Colorado grasshopper. I should recommend to infest the newly-hatched 

 brood, which live always together in great numbers, and I should recom- 

 mend also to bring the poison, if possible, in contact with the eggs in the 

 egg-holes, to arrive at the same results, which were so fatal to Mr. Trou- 

 velot's silk-raising. After all, the remedy proposed is very cheap, is 

 everywhere to be had or easily to be prepared, has the great advantage of 

 not being obnoxious to man or domestic animals, and if successful would 

 be really a benefit to mankind. Nevertheless, I should not be astonished 

 at all if the first trial with this remedy would not be very successful, even 

 a failure. The quantity to be applied and the manner of the application 

 can only be known by experiment, but I am sure that it will not be diffi- 



