ICO Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 



window pane or other smooth surface, with a white halo around 

 the body, caused by the fly-mould known as Empusa Aliiscae, 

 Cohn ; and the muscardine or silk-worm disease is also well 

 known, whereby the silk-worms become mummified, as it were, 

 and so hard as to snap when bent. This is caused by a white 

 mould known as Botrytis Bassiafta, Bals., which fills, absorlis and 

 destroys the interior of the caterpillai-, and appears on the surface 

 as a woolly covering. It would be out of place here to pursue 

 this subject further, but it may be noticed that the coccus of the 

 orange, the locust, and the aphides or plant-lice have all their 

 parasitic fungi, and it has been proposed in the case of the latter 

 to use the fungus for i-educing their numbers. Botrytis teneita, 

 Sacc, is known to be very destructive to the larvae of the cock- 

 chafer ( Melolontha vulgaris) which is recognised in Britain as the 

 most injurious of beetles to the agriculturist ; but, perhaps, the 

 most striking instance is that of the mealy isaria ( Isaria farinosa. 

 Fries.), which is a parasite of the Cocky lis ambiguella, or raisin- 

 worm as it is commonly called, and after the phylloxera, is one 

 of the most destructive insects to the vine. ]M. Duchartre drew 

 particular attention, in the Academy of France, last year to a 

 communication from MM. Sauvageau and Perrand recording 

 experiments on the destruction of the insects by means of the 

 spores of the parasitic fungus. In the course of a few days all 

 the larvaj became infected with the fungus and were mummified 

 by it. Similar experiments tried in the vineyard gave a mortality 

 of fifty per cent., and the spores were simply mixed with water 

 and sprayed upon the vines. This pitting of nature against 

 itself opens up a wide field for the destruction of injurious 

 insects, as well as of other pests. 



Even the element of romance is not wanting in connection with 

 some of these forms, giving rise to wonderful tales of the trans- 

 formation of plants into insects, and vice versa. The famous 

 Chinese plant-worm Cordyceps sinensis. Berk.) is mentioned by Dr. 

 Pereira in his Materia Medica* as " summer plant, winter woim," 

 and is reputed to possess wonderful medical properties. The 

 whole subject is teeming with interest, and well deserves atten- 

 tion from the biological point of view. 



» Materia Medica, vol. ii., 61 (4tli eil.), 1853. 



