﻿77 
  

  

  the 
  fungi 
  appeared 
  witliin 
  two 
  days, 
  in 
  the 
  Will 
  county 
  lot 
  within 
  

   three, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  McHenry 
  county 
  specimens 
  within 
  four 
  days. 
  

  

  Eighty-two 
  lots 
  of 
  chinch-bugs 
  in 
  all 
  were 
  thus 
  tested 
  for 
  the 
  pres- 
  

   ence 
  of 
  Sporotrichum. 
  These 
  came 
  in 
  from 
  tifty-two 
  counties 
  of 
  the 
  

   one 
  hundred 
  and 
  two 
  in 
  the 
  State, 
  only 
  four 
  of 
  them 
  from 
  Northern, 
  

   and 
  eighteen 
  from 
  Southern, 
  Illinois. 
  Twentj^-seven 
  of 
  these 
  lots, 
  or 
  

   very 
  nearly 
  thirty-three 
  per 
  cent., 
  yielded 
  no 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  presence 
  

   of 
  muscardine; 
  but 
  in 
  twenty- 
  five 
  cases, 
  or 
  about 
  thirty 
  per 
  cent., 
  the 
  

   fungus 
  of 
  this 
  disease 
  appeared 
  within 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  ar- 
  

   rival 
  of 
  the 
  specimens. 
  If 
  we 
  assume 
  — 
  as 
  I 
  think 
  from 
  my 
  experi- 
  

   ence 
  with 
  this 
  fungus 
  that 
  we 
  safely 
  may 
  — 
  that 
  the 
  bugs 
  which 
  gave 
  

   evidence 
  of 
  its 
  presence 
  within 
  three 
  days 
  had 
  brought 
  the 
  infection 
  

   with 
  them, 
  then 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  lots 
  was 
  thirty-eight, 
  or 
  

   approximately 
  forty-six 
  per 
  cent, 
  of 
  the 
  whole. 
  

  

  No 
  especial 
  localization 
  of 
  muscardjne 
  was 
  apparent 
  in 
  any 
  part 
  of 
  

   the 
  State, 
  but 
  it 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  generally 
  distributed, 
  The 
  bugs 
  col- 
  

   lected 
  were 
  of 
  course 
  ordinarily 
  taken 
  from 
  badly 
  infested 
  fields, 
  and 
  

   the 
  lots 
  received 
  were 
  an 
  insignificant 
  fraction 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  in 
  the 
  

   field. 
  No 
  special 
  search 
  was 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  collectors 
  of 
  these 
  insects 
  

   for 
  diseased 
  specimens, 
  but, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  they 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  the 
  

   office 
  for 
  inoculation 
  on 
  the 
  supposition 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  themselves 
  

   free 
  from 
  disease. 
  We 
  must 
  suppose, 
  consequently, 
  that 
  muscar'iine 
  

   was 
  very 
  much 
  more 
  generally 
  present 
  than 
  the 
  results 
  of 
  these 
  test 
  

   observations 
  would 
  immediately 
  prove, 
  and 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  me 
  quite 
  

   probable 
  that 
  it 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  all 
  but 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  per- 
  

   centage 
  of 
  the 
  fields 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  seriously 
  infested 
  by 
  the 
  chinch- 
  

   bug 
  during 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  early 
  summer 
  of 
  lb95. 
  Indeed. 
  I 
  fre- 
  

   quently 
  advised 
  correspondents 
  who 
  wished 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  supply 
  of 
  bugs 
  

   infected 
  with 
  muscardine, 
  simpl^^ 
  to 
  shut 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  contagion 
  box 
  with 
  

   a 
  supply 
  of 
  food 
  any 
  considerable 
  number 
  of 
  bugs 
  from 
  their 
  own 
  

   fields, 
  in 
  the 
  expectation 
  that 
  the 
  fungus 
  would 
  presently 
  appear 
  

   among 
  them 
  and 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  thus 
  become 
  spontaneously 
  in- 
  

   fected. 
  

  

  To 
  what 
  extent 
  this 
  general 
  oecurrenc;^ 
  of 
  muscardine 
  in 
  Illinois 
  

   may 
  have 
  been 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  several 
  thousand 
  lots 
  of 
  fungus-covered 
  

   bugs 
  sent 
  out 
  from 
  my 
  office 
  to 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  diiriug 
  the 
  two 
  

   years 
  preceding, 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  course 
  im[)ossible 
  to 
  say; 
  but 
  the 
  extremely 
  

   dry 
  weather 
  of 
  those 
  years 
  during 
  the 
  time 
  when 
  these 
  distributions 
  

   were 
  made, 
  very 
  probably 
  prevented 
  in 
  most 
  cases 
  the 
  successful 
  

   pro]jagation 
  of 
  the 
  fungus 
  in 
  the 
  fields. 
  This 
  certainly 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  

   in 
  our 
  owfi 
  experim'Mital 
  work. 
  I'ara 
  inclitied 
  to 
  think, 
  consequently, 
  

   that 
  the 
  loresence 
  of 
  Sporotrichum 
  here 
  re])orted 
  was 
  a 
  normal 
  and 
  

   usual 
  fact, 
  not 
  great) 
  v 
  infli'^nced 
  by 
  the 
  distributions 
  of 
  the 
  preced- 
  

   ing 
  year. 
  

  

  Tf'is 
  woriiiy 
  oi 
  ;i(i:!i 
  'Kiiiil 
  remark 
  that 
  m 
  most 
  lots 
  of 
  speoinipus 
  in 
  

   M'hich 
  the 
  muscardine 
  fungus 
  appeared 
  under 
  our 
  observatioiis 
  only 
  

   a 
  verv 
  smvll 
  parcentage 
  of 
  the 
  bugs 
  in 
  tlie 
  lot 
  were 
  affected 
  bv 
  it 
  — 
  

   often 
  only 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  out 
  of 
  maiiv 
  hundreds. 
  This 
  would 
  indir'ate 
  

   either 
  a 
  comoarativelv 
  snant}^ 
  distribution 
  of 
  the 
  fungus 
  in 
  the 
  fields 
  

   or 
  an 
  unequal 
  susceptibility 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bugs 
  to 
  its 
  attack. 
  

  

  