Malay, Tamil, and Chinese explaining the nature of the attack, 

 and asking those with attacked trees to burn the lower leaves on 

 which the caterpillars in large quantities had pupated, i.e., the already 

 destroyed leaves. This circular was distributed as soon as an ins- 

 pector had been appointed for the purpose. 



During the month of December, it became evident that the centre 

 of the attack was moving south under the prevailing wind and had 

 got to the junction of the Tampinis Road with the Sirangoon Road. 

 Very sparingly the motli had reached Tanjong Ponggul northwards 

 against the wind. 



Spraying meanwhile had been resorted to on the Trafalgar Estate 

 and had done good, for the young trees were free ; but the machine 

 was not powerful enough for the spraying of tall palms. 



At this stage Nature came to the rescue in the form of a fungus 

 allied to that which causes Muscardine in silk worms — a fungus, new 

 to science which will be described by Mr. G. E. Massee of the Royal 

 Botanic Gardens, Kew, as Botryds necans. 



It was first detected near the edge of the Bukit Sembawang Rub- 

 ber Estate, on the Tampinis Road ; and no sooner was it found than 

 it was seized on as a weapon against the moth. The special inspector, 

 having been made familiar with the insect in all its stages and with 

 the fungus, was set to the work of distributing the latter to any colony 

 of caterpillars that he could find free from it. This distribution was done 

 by taking strips of coconut leaves with dead caterpillars or pupae on 

 them, and tying them to the leaves of trees where healthy caterpillars 

 were feeding. Fortunately the caterpillar pupates blatantly in a 

 silken hammock under the leaf that it has been eating, and, if fun- 

 gus-infected, generally dies inside the hammock, the spores coming 

 to the outside in the form of flour; the fungus is therefore easily 

 found and there was no difficulty in collecting supplies as required. 



The inspector, thus working, for instance, spread the fungus 

 through the coconunts about Ponggul, on January 15th, among 

 a brood then maturing which soon pupated and whereof, the 

 Tachinids and Brachonids had but infected 5 per cent. In the 

 next brood the attack was killed out. About Gelong which 

 the moth succeeded in invading, the fungus was also spread ; but 

 there is reason to believe that south of the centre the v/ind did more 

 by distributing the fungus spores that the inspector could have done 

 In February, the outbreak was over. 



It is memorable for revealing a means of which we were not 

 aware of possible utility for meeting another attack. 



I. H. BURKILL. 



