s Pg? te ey 
Be, found See a few of which were fait by the fungoid mass. 
akes its appearance only at intervals of seventeen years, and conseque 
ot be seen here again till 1894, it will searcely be possible to make any 
observations | on it and its parasite for some time to come, yet it would be inter- — 
ting to know how the fungus is propagated, or where its germs remain duving 
long interval between the appearance of two generations. Do the fungus - 
rms enter the ground in the body of the larva, and slowly develop with its 
growth, becoming mature when it is mature, or do they remain quiescent on or 
near the surface of the ground, waiting to enter the body of the pupa as it 
emerges seventeen years hence? Or, again, is it possible that the fungus is od 
Be _ developed annually in some closely related species as the “ Harvest-fly,” Cicada f, 3 
he canicularis, and that it passes over from its usual habitat to the seventeen-year i 
_ cicada whenever it has the oportunity? These questions are merely suggestive. 
They cannot yet be answered.* . 
ys _ While in the Adirondack region numerous clumps of alders were noticed that — 
had their leaves nearly all skeletonized by the larvze of some unknown insect, The - 
__ larvee were nearly black in color and scarcely half an inch long. They were seen 
countless numbers feeding upon the leaves and threatening by their numbers, 
en if but half of them should come to maturity, inanother year to completely defo- 
te the alders of that region. Upon looking under the affected bushes for the 
yupee of the insect, in order, if possible, to have the means of ascertaining the 
ecles, what was my astonishment to find the ground thiekly flecked with tie 
| owny fungoid shroud of a dead larva from thealders, Nota single living pupa 
could be found, but there were hundreds of dead and moldy larve. killed without 
ae by _the ‘fungus, which is nature’s antidote to.an over-production of this 
a 
tree was observed on which much of ‘the fruit was discolored, and appeared as if © y 
beginning to decay. Some of the passengers in the stage remarked that they = 
“never before knew of apples rotting on the tree.’ “Some of the fruit was ; 
‘procured, and found to be affected by : a fungus known to botanists by the name 
Spheropsis Malorum, or apple Sphieropsis. It has been described as attack- _ 
ing ‘‘apples lying on the ground” in winter. Here was an instance in which 
__ the apples were attacked while yet on the tree, and that, too, as early as Septem-— : 
ber. The apples attacked by the fungus are rendered worthless, and experi- 
Bi “ments recently made indicate that the disease is contagious, and may be com- 4 
-_ municated from one apple to another. For example, a perfectly sound apple. 
_ was placed in a drawer with one that was affected by the fungus. Inafew 
eS: days the sound apple began to show signs of decay. __ Its whole surface had a 
assumed a dull brown color as if beginning to rot. Two or three days later 
ies small pale spots made their appearance, and in the center of each there was a “tf ; 
‘minute rupture of the epidermis. An examination of the substance of theapple ~ 
in these pale spots revealed fungoid filaments that had permeated the cells of _ ie 
a the apple. In two or three days more, numerous minute black pustules or 
 papillee had appeared. They were thickly scattered over nearly the whole sur- 
face of the apple. These constitute the Spheropsis. When microscopically 
. examined, each one of these black papillee is found to contain several oblong pale 
fungus spores (seeds) supported on a short stem or foot-stalk, from which they 
soon separate. It would be well, therefore, whenever this fungus-rot makes its 
er 
*Since this was written. I have found in the Smithsonian Contributions, Vol. v, -p. 538, a very 3 
good account of this fungus, by Dr. Léidy, of Philadelpia, but as noname w vas een to 1h Shas i 
_ and description will be published. aye 
