THE MUSEUM. 



343 



this disk the fish attaches itself to a 

 shark, a turtle, or some other larger 

 fish, and is in this manner drawn 

 through the water without the exertion 

 of swimming. Occasionally it will re- 

 lease its hold long enough to swim off 

 and get something to eat, but imme- 

 diately returns to re-fasten itself. 



The South American Indians make 

 use of this instinct of the fish to catch 

 sea turtles. They fasten a ring around 

 the remora's tail to which they attach 

 a long line. The fish is then taken to 

 sea, and when a large turtle is sight- 

 ed the remora is trown overboard. It 

 unerringly swims to the turtle and 

 makes fast. The line is then drawn 

 in, and soon both turtle and remora 

 are in the boat. It is necessary, how- 

 ever, to wait until the fish feels inclin- 

 ed to let go, for it is impossible to de- 

 tach it from the object by force with- 

 out injury. 



Annual Meeting of the American 

 Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, and Affil- 

 iated Societies, at Spring- 

 field, Mass., August 

 29. 1895. 



Among the many papers offered at 

 the preliminary meetings two brought 

 before the Entomological Society at- 

 tracted general attention for local as 

 well as scientific reasons. One of 

 these was about that imported pest, 

 the Gypsy moth, whose ravages it is 

 costing so much to hold in check. 

 The moth was introduced into this 

 country twenty-six years ago by the 

 astronomer Trouvelot, of Medford, 

 Mass., who was at that time experi- 

 menting in raising silkworms. He 

 placed his moths on some shrubs as 

 soon as they arrived from France and 



covered them with mosquito netting; 

 but during a storm the netting was 

 blown away and the insects escaped. 

 Professor Fernald, of Amherst told the 

 story of the subsequent spread of this 

 moth and of what was being done for 

 its extermination. He said that the 

 species spread rapidly, eating all the 

 leaves and killing all the trees in the 

 vicinity. They would spread over a 

 house so thickly that one could not 

 tell the color of the paint, and they 

 covered the sidewalks so that one 

 could not step without killing numbers 

 of them. The public became alarmed. 

 Bulletins were sent out and copies of 

 the official report were sent to every 

 voter in Massachusetts. Commissions 

 were appointed and large appropria- 

 tions were made by the legislature. 

 Experts were consulted by whose ad- 

 vice Professor E. H. Forbush was 

 made field director, while Professor 

 Fernald was retained as special ento- 

 mologist. It was found that native 

 parasites were at work on the moths; 

 but it was not thought best to wait for 

 the result of their work. Paris green 

 was used and numerous other insect- 

 icides. Finally it was found that the 

 arsenate of lead could be used effec- 

 tively in large quantities and without 

 injury to the trees. Waste lands may 

 be burned over to advantage. The 

 eggs can be killed by a combination of 

 carbolic acid and creosote. The ter- 

 ritory now infested covers 200 square 

 miles in thirty towns and cities. The 

 female does not fly but crawls at the 

 rate of 142 feet a day, and will eat 

 200 square feet of lettuce during its 

 lifetime of twelve weeks. The subject 

 was discussed by Professors Riley, 

 Forbush, Lintner and others, and a 

 resolution unanimously pkassed approv- 



