﻿OBSERVATIONS 
  AND 
  EXPERIMENTS 
  OF 
  1890. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  twenty-third 
  annual 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science, 
  

   (November, 
  1890,) 
  I 
  presented 
  a 
  paper, 
  afterward 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Transac- 
  

   tions 
  of 
  the 
  Academy, 
  Vol. 
  XII, 
  part 
  II, 
  pp. 
  119-122, 
  giving 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  my 
  

   "experiments 
  in 
  1890 
  for 
  the 
  artificial 
  dissemination 
  of 
  contagious 
  diseases 
  

   among 
  chinch-bugs." 
  From 
  this 
  paper 
  I 
  extract 
  the 
  following 
  notes 
  on 
  these 
  

   experiments 
  : 
  

  

  Inasmuch 
  as 
  these 
  maladies 
  of 
  the 
  chinch-bug 
  are 
  not 
  kept 
  alive 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  under 
  

   ordinary 
  out-of-door 
  conditions 
  of 
  the 
  winter 
  season, 
  the 
  next 
  important 
  point 
  to 
  be 
  

   gained 
  was 
  their 
  preservation 
  through 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory, 
  in 
  order 
  that 
  

   they 
  might 
  be 
  under 
  control 
  and 
  be 
  available 
  for 
  use 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1890. 
  To 
  ac- 
  

   complish 
  this 
  result, 
  I 
  placed 
  fresh, 
  healthy 
  bugs 
  in 
  the 
  infection 
  jar 
  late 
  in 
  Novem- 
  

   ber, 
  1889, 
  and 
  was 
  pleased 
  to 
  note 
  that 
  they 
  contracted 
  disease 
  and 
  died 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   way 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  earlier 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  season. 
  I 
  was 
  not 
  able 
  to 
  obtain 
  fresh 
  germs 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring 
  of 
  1890 
  until 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  April, 
  and 
  then 
  only 
  a 
  limited 
  supply 
  of 
  live 
  bugs 
  

   could 
  be 
  secured. 
  I 
  quote 
  the 
  following 
  from 
  my 
  laboratory 
  notes: 
  

  

  April 
  10, 
  25 
  chinch-bugs 
  that 
  had 
  hibernated 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  were 
  put 
  in 
  the 
  infection 
  jars. 
  They 
  were 
  

   supplied 
  with 
  young 
  wheat 
  plants. 
  The 
  bugs 
  appeared 
  lively 
  and 
  healthy. 
  

  

  April 
  16, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  bugs 
  were 
  dead, 
  and 
  all 
  appeared 
  stupid. 
  

  

  April 
  20, 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  bugs 
  were 
  dead. 
  

  

  One 
  week 
  later, 
  a 
  new 
  supply 
  of 
  14 
  bugs 
  was 
  put 
  into 
  the 
  jar; 
  they 
  were 
  supplied 
  with 
  growing 
  

   wheat. 
  They 
  ran 
  substantially 
  the 
  same 
  course 
  as 
  the 
  first 
  25. 
  Some 
  had 
  died 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  

   week, 
  and 
  all 
  were 
  dead 
  by 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  13th 
  day. 
  

  

  The 
  chinch-bug 
  seemed 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  very 
  generally 
  exterminated 
  in 
  Kansas 
  in 
  

   1889, 
  and 
  only 
  three 
  applications 
  for 
  diseased 
  bugs 
  were 
  received 
  in 
  1890 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  

   middle 
  of 
  July. 
  On 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  limited 
  amount 
  of 
  infection 
  material 
  on 
  hand, 
  I 
  

   required 
  each 
  applicant 
  to 
  send 
  me 
  a 
  box 
  of 
  live 
  bugs, 
  which 
  I 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  infec- 
  

   tion 
  jars, 
  returning 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  sick 
  bugs 
  to 
  the 
  sender. 
  The 
  

   three 
  applicants 
  above 
  noted 
  reported 
  the 
  complete 
  success 
  of 
  the 
  experiments. 
  I 
  

   give 
  the 
  following 
  letter 
  from 
  Mr. 
  M. 
  F. 
  Mattocks, 
  of 
  Wauneta, 
  Chautauqua 
  county. 
  

  

  Kansas: 
  

  

  Wauneta, 
  Kas., 
  July 
  7, 
  1890. 
  

   Dear 
  Sir: 
  I 
  received 
  from 
  you 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  since 
  a 
  box 
  of 
  diseased 
  chinch-bugs. 
  I 
  treated 
  them 
  

   according 
  to 
  instructions, 
  and 
  I 
  have 
  watched 
  them 
  closely, 
  and 
  find 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  conveyed 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   ease 
  almost 
  all 
  over 
  my 
  farm, 
  and 
  the 
  bugs 
  are 
  dying 
  at 
  a 
  rapid 
  rate. 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  found 
  any 
  dead 
  bugs 
  

   on 
  farms 
  adjoining 
  me. 
  I 
  here 
  inclose 
  you 
  box 
  of 
  healthy 
  bugs 
  that 
  I 
  gathered 
  II 
  miles 
  from 
  my 
  place. 
  

   I 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  they 
  are 
  diseased. 
  M. 
  F. 
  Mattocks. 
  

  

  I 
  personally 
  visited 
  Mr. 
  Mattocks's 
  farm, 
  and 
  verified 
  the 
  above 
  statements. 
  

  

  Before 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  season 
  of 
  1890 
  it 
  became 
  evident 
  that 
  there 
  were 
  at 
  least 
  

   three 
  diseases 
  at 
  work 
  in 
  our 
  infection 
  jars 
  — 
  the 
  "white 
  fungus" 
  (Entomophthora 
  or 
  

   Empusa); 
  a 
  bacterial 
  disease 
  {Micrococcus) 
  ; 
  and 
  a 
  fungus, 
  considered 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Roland 
  

   Thaxer 
  to 
  be 
  Isaria, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  more 
  properly 
  Trichoderma 
  [Sporotrichum]. 
  

  

  The 
  following 
  report, 
  which 
  describes 
  the 
  bugs 
  as 
  "collecting 
  in 
  clusters," 
  points 
  

   to 
  the 
  bacterial 
  disease 
  as 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  destruction: 
  

  

  Piqua, 
  Woodson 
  Co., 
  Kas. 
  July 
  12, 
  1890. 
  

  

  Dear 
  Sir 
  : 
  Since 
  writing 
  you 
  from 
  Humboldt, 
  Kas., 
  the 
  6th 
  inst., 
  have 
  made 
  the 
  happy 
  discovery 
  

   that 
  the 
  germs 
  of 
  contagious 
  diseases 
  sent 
  me 
  were 
  vital. 
  On 
  Sunday 
  last, 
  upon 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  

   millet 
  field, 
  I 
  found 
  millions 
  of 
  dead 
  bugs. 
  They 
  were 
  collected 
  in 
  clusters. 
  My 
  idea 
  is 
  that 
  dampness 
  

  

  (11) 
  

  

  