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femaies are also affected by it. Dr. E. G. Grahn, a friend whose as- 
sistance I value highly, has, at my request, examined the Cicada with a 
microscope. The result of his examination I give in his own words: 
‘An examination of many of the Cicadz reveals the fact that they 
have lost several of the posterior segments of the abdomen, and that 
this part of the insect is filled with a mealy-looking substance of a some- 
what yellowish color. I subjected this substance to microscopical ex- 
amination and found it to consist of numberless spherical bodies having 
the general appearance of spores, and it probably is the Massospora 
cicadina (Peck.), but as I had no description of this fungus I could not 
be certain of this. 
“Tn Bulletin No. 8 of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
Division of Entomology, Prof. Charles Riley mentions this fungus, and 
quotes Mr. R. H. Warder, of Cleves, Ohio, who states that ‘It seemed 
to be adrying up of the contents and membranes of the abdomen,’ and 
that he found it in the males who may have lost the posterior segments 
of the abdomen during copulation, and alludes to it as a ‘dry rot,’ 
which ‘might be the result of the broken membranes,’ 
‘‘He further states that he ‘never found a perfect male thus affected,’ 
but finally concludes that ‘this is not positive proof.” Whether or not 
Mr. Warder examined this substance microscopically is not stated, but 
true it is that in the Cicadie of this year the microscope and the various 
straining agents reveal countless spherical organized bodies which 
could not be formed simply by decomposition or transformed of the 
‘contents and membranes of the abdomen,’ and must therefore be re- 
garded as a growth or multiplication of similar organized bodies hav- 
ing the properties and functions of seeds or spores, which have, in some . 
manner, gained access to the bodies of the Cicad. It is true, also, 
that this fungus is found not only in male Cicadas who have lost the 
posterior segments of the abdomen, but in perfect males as well, as also 
in females who are yet in possession of many eggs, and in these speci- 
mens the eggs and fungus completely fill up the abdomen. In view of 
these facts—which are well attested—it seems somewhat strange to find 
Professor Riley quoting without comment the statements of Mr. War- 
der. The spherical bodies referred to have a diameter of about =3,th 
of an inch, and have the appearance of being covered on their exterior 
with small granules, spherical in outline, and about =; 5th of an inch 
in diameter. In their fresh state they were subjected to the action 
of the iodine solution recommended in Huxley and Martin’s ‘ Practical 
Biology.’ A dark border revealed itself, indicating that the cell wall 
had taken the stain. Acetic acid rendered them more transparent. 
Aniline green stained both the cell wall and its contents of a nearly 
uniform color. Being in doubt whether or not the spherical bodies 
were single spores, I subjected some rather dry ones to pressure, and the 
cells thus ruptured emitted large numbers of small spherical bodies, 
having a diameter of from >>},5;th to =;5th inch, each large cell hav- 
