﻿OBSERVATIONS 
  AND 
  EXPERIMENTS 
  OF 
  1889. 
  

  

  Iu 
  June, 
  1889, 
  I 
  received 
  a 
  letter 
  from 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  T. 
  Curtiss, 
  of 
  Dwight, 
  Morris 
  

   county, 
  Kansas, 
  announcing 
  that 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  diseases 
  mentioned 
  in 
  my 
  1888 
  

   article 
  in 
  the 
  Report 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  Board 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  (see 
  Observations 
  of 
  

   1888) 
  was 
  raging 
  in 
  various 
  fields 
  in 
  his 
  county. 
  Doctor 
  Curtiss 
  stated 
  that 
  

   on 
  June 
  22 
  he 
  saw 
  the 
  first 
  sick 
  bugs, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  days 
  thereafter 
  dead 
  ones. 
  

   In 
  many 
  places, 
  in 
  fields 
  of 
  oats 
  and 
  wheat, 
  the 
  ground 
  was 
  white 
  with 
  dead 
  

   bugs. 
  Specimens 
  of 
  these 
  dead 
  and 
  dying 
  bugs 
  were 
  immediately 
  obtained 
  

   from 
  Doctor 
  Curtiss, 
  and 
  suitable 
  laboratory 
  experiments 
  begun. 
  The 
  disease 
  

   proved 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  entomophthorous 
  affection, 
  the 
  direct 
  result 
  of 
  the 
  growth 
  

   within 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  bug 
  of 
  a 
  parasitic 
  fungus, 
  Empusa 
  aphidis. 
  It 
  was 
  found 
  

   that 
  healthy 
  living 
  bugs, 
  when 
  placed 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  jar 
  with 
  the 
  bugs 
  from 
  Mor- 
  

   ris 
  county, 
  were 
  sickened 
  and 
  killed. 
  It 
  soon 
  appeared 
  to 
  me 
  clearly 
  estab- 
  

   lished 
  that 
  the 
  disease 
  could 
  be 
  successfully 
  communicated 
  from 
  diseased 
  to 
  

   healthy 
  bugs 
  in 
  the 
  laboratory. 
  Concerning 
  my 
  work 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  year 
  of 
  

   the 
  experimenting, 
  I 
  quote 
  as 
  follows 
  from 
  a 
  paper 
  read 
  by 
  me 
  before 
  the 
  

   twenty-second 
  annual 
  meeting 
  of 
  the 
  Kansas 
  Academy 
  of 
  Science 
  in 
  1889, 
  

   and 
  printed 
  in 
  the 
  Transactions 
  of 
  the 
  Academy, 
  Vol. 
  XII, 
  part 
  I, 
  pp. 
  34-37 
  : 
  

  

  Just 
  at 
  this 
  time 
  an 
  unexpected 
  opportunity 
  was 
  presented 
  for 
  testing 
  this 
  ques- 
  

   tion 
  by 
  an 
  experiment 
  conducted 
  upon 
  a 
  larger 
  scale 
  than 
  had 
  previously 
  been 
  pos- 
  

   sible. 
  This 
  opportunity 
  was 
  afforded 
  through 
  the 
  enterprise 
  of 
  a 
  reporter 
  for 
  the 
  

   Lawrence 
  Daily 
  Tribune, 
  who 
  appeared 
  on 
  the 
  scene 
  at 
  the 
  right 
  moment 
  and 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  a 
  brief 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  appearance 
  of 
  a 
  contagious 
  disease 
  among 
  the 
  chinch- 
  

   bugs 
  of 
  Douglas 
  county, 
  and 
  stated 
  positively 
  that 
  the 
  disease 
  could 
  be 
  started 
  in 
  

   any 
  field, 
  and 
  the 
  field 
  soon 
  cleared 
  of 
  bugs, 
  by 
  scattering 
  a 
  few 
  dead 
  bugs, 
  which 
  

   could 
  be 
  obtained 
  by 
  sending 
  an 
  application 
  to 
  the 
  writer 
  of 
  this 
  article. 
  In 
  a 
  few 
  

   days 
  I 
  began 
  to 
  receive 
  a 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  letters, 
  from 
  no 
  less 
  than 
  nine 
  different 
  

   States, 
  begging 
  for 
  "diseased 
  and 
  deceased 
  bugs." 
  The 
  magnificent 
  opportunity 
  

   thus 
  afforded 
  by 
  the 
  rather 
  too 
  "previous" 
  reporter 
  was 
  not 
  allowed 
  to 
  go 
  unim- 
  

   proved, 
  and 
  during 
  July 
  and 
  August 
  sick 
  and 
  dead 
  bugs 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  farmers 
  and 
  

   agricultural 
  experiment 
  stations 
  in 
  Kansas, 
  Nebraska, 
  Iowa, 
  Missouri, 
  Minnesota, 
  

   Michigan, 
  Indiana, 
  Illinois, 
  and 
  Kentucky. 
  The 
  following 
  letter 
  of 
  instruction 
  ac- 
  

   companied 
  each 
  package 
  of 
  bugs: 
  

  

  Dear 
  Sib: 
  Having 
  just 
  obtained 
  a 
  limited 
  supply 
  of 
  diseased 
  chinch-bugs, 
  I 
  inclose 
  a 
  small 
  box 
  

   of 
  them 
  for 
  your 
  use, 
  on 
  condition 
  of 
  your 
  making 
  careful 
  trial 
  of 
  them 
  and 
  reporting 
  to 
  me 
  the 
  

   result. 
  

  

  Please 
  observe 
  the 
  following 
  directions: 
  Mix 
  these 
  bugs 
  with 
  10 
  or 
  20 
  times 
  as 
  many 
  healthy 
  bugs, 
  

   and 
  keep 
  them 
  together 
  for 
  36 
  or 
  4S 
  hours: 
  then 
  turn 
  them 
  loose, 
  both 
  dead 
  and 
  living 
  ones, 
  on 
  the 
  field 
  

   selected 
  for 
  the 
  experiment. 
  Watch 
  closely 
  for 
  the 
  result. 
  A 
  similar 
  lot 
  sent 
  to 
  Ottawa 
  county, 
  Kan- 
  

   sas, 
  two 
  weeks 
  ago, 
  and 
  distributed 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  above 
  directions, 
  soon 
  communicated 
  the 
  disease 
  

   to 
  that 
  region. 
  The 
  bugs 
  began 
  to 
  die 
  in 
  five 
  days 
  after 
  the 
  infected 
  material 
  had 
  been 
  "planted." 
  

  

  Please 
  make 
  a 
  careful 
  record 
  of 
  your 
  proceedings, 
  and 
  report 
  to 
  me, 
  as 
  I 
  am 
  very 
  anxious 
  to 
  dis- 
  

   cover 
  the 
  best 
  possible 
  method 
  of 
  spreading 
  this 
  disease 
  among 
  our 
  farmers' 
  most 
  destructive 
  ene- 
  

   mies. 
  

  

  The 
  results 
  of 
  this 
  wholesale 
  experiment 
  have 
  been 
  exceedingly 
  satisfactory, 
  and 
  

   are 
  best 
  presented 
  by 
  the 
  following 
  selections 
  from 
  an 
  extensive 
  correspondence: 
  

  

  (8) 
  

  

  