104 PSYCHE [Oct_ ber 
it is seized upon with avidity by the caterpillars as long as it remains moist. Sick 
caterpillars also exude from the mouth liquids which may infect healthy specimens 
through the habit just mentioned. 
In this connection certain other investigations made by Fischer also deserve 
notice. He found that caterpillars when sick with flacherie, if not too far gone, and 
if they are still able to feed, can be cured if they be separated from those already dead 
and given the very best of care, with extremely fresh food renewed possibly two or 
three times a day. During convalescence the peculiar sweet odor noticeable as an 
early symptom of flacherie disappears. I repeated Fischer’s experiments with Gypsy 
Moth caterpillars after the third and fourth molts with the same successful result. 
This is of especial value to caterpillar breeders, for it often happens that whole series 
of larvee fall a prey to flacherie, without their knowing of any way to stop its progress. 
Further there is the erroneous opinion that in large breeding series the disease is very 
apt to break out spontaneously, but this, however, is not at all likely if fresh, sound 
food is given at least twice a day and the natural life conditions of the caterpillars are 
reproduced. 
I must not forget to call especial attention to the fact that all the experiments here 
briefly described have required a great deal of time and attention. One must care- 
fully look after every detail of the experiments daily from the time of the hatching of 
the Gypsy Moth eggs until pupation (from the end of May till the end of July) in 
order to avoid even slight mistakes or errors of apparently minor importance which 
might lessen the value of the work. One must also consider the various possi- 
bilities which count for or against the practical use of artificially produced Flacherie. 
Although my experiments suggest the great probability of an economic value in 
this disease for destroying the Gypsy Moth, I must make it plain that the experiments 
of only a single year had best not be taken as a comprehensive method for the practical 
use of Flacherie, but that further experiments should be undertaken on a larger scale 
in the near future to substantiate the results I have obtained. 
It goes also without saying that such work should be done only with great care to 
secure correct results, for it does not depend on the performance of experiments, but 
above all on how they are performed. 
I may also mention that I performed experiments with the brown-tail moth 
(Euproctis chrysorrhaa), similar to those performed with the gypsy moth, but in this 
case successful results were not obtained, as only two percent of the caterpillars suc- 
cumbed to the disease. I have, moreover, observed a similar percentage of dead 
chrysorrheea caterpillars in nature near Raymond, N. H. There I found a wooded 
area where flacherie had broken out especially among the American tent caterpillars 
