Melanconium sacchari. The Melanconium form was found to be very 

 abundant. Massee records it from INIauritius in 1894. 



British India. — Melanconium sacchari is stated by Butler (3) to 

 be rare in British India. It is also reported from India by Massee 

 (29). Barber (1) also records the fungus from India. 



Tonquin. — The fungus was reported in this part of Indo-China 

 by Prilleux and Delacroix (1. c). 



Java. — Went (38) describes its appearance in Java. His descrip- 

 tion in the Annals of Botany (39) is such, however, to lead one to 

 suspect that he did not have the West Indian Melanconium sacchari. 

 Thistleton-Dyer (35), in discussing the subject, thinks he had a very 

 different fungus. Went describes black spherical conidia as being 

 connected with the Melanconium with which he was working, and 

 no one else has as yet published a description of such a form. He 

 mentions chlamydospores, so that it cannot be certain just what 

 Went had, although these were also found by Howard (20). 



Natal. — Fuller (17) reported in this colony a fungus on sugar 

 cane supposed by him to be Strumella sacchari, which, as we have 

 seen, is identical with Melanconium sacchari. 



Queensland,. — The first description of Strumella sacchari was by 

 Cooke (9) from a specimen received from Queensland. Tryon (37) 

 also also records the occurrence of the rind disease in this country. 



Xew South Wales. — Cobb (4) reported Strumella sacchari as oc- 

 curring there. 



Hawaii. — Perkins (30) in 1904 stated that "nearly a year ago, 

 * * * an unusal outbreak of some parasitic leaf-fungi was no- 

 ticed, and this was shortly followed by a similar spread of fungous 

 diseases affecting other parts of the cane. It must not be supposed 

 that these fungi are new to this country; they have been known to 

 us for at least some years sporadically, but are now epidemic. The 

 present epidemic is clearly due to the abundance of the leaf-hopper. 



"At present by far the most widespread and injurious of these 

 diseases is the so-called Rind Disease. * * * Qn examining the 

 stripped stem of young cane, I find that the fungus has already 

 attacked this severely. * * * Whole fields of cane are simply 

 saturated with the spores of the fungus." 



Cobb (5) in 1906 stated that he had "noted the presence of rind 

 disease in sufficient quantity to call for remedial action." Lewton- 

 Brain (24) described the rind disease and the loss caused by it in 

 1907. Cobb (6), writing again in 1909, said that in many fields, 

 especially ratoon fields of Lahaina cane, it was common to find the 

 sheaths of Ihe ''lalas" (shoots from the top of the cane) attacked 



31 



