818 PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 



attention will be required and in a few cases the spores may go unnoticed 

 if the moths are not treated as stated later on. This " efficiency,'" secured 

 at the cost of risk and economy, does not appear to he commensurate with the 

 advantage obtained. 



Comparison of the Pasteur Method and the Modified Method of 

 Pasteur as recommended by Mr. Hutchinson. 



According to the Pasteur method of examination one microscopist 

 with the help of two labourers to crush the moths can examime about 

 800-1,200 moths in a day of 8 hours. For examining the same 800 

 moths according to Mr. Hutchinson's method the same microscopist 

 will require the assistance of at least two responsible overseers. In other 

 words, for examining 800 moths according to the Pasteur method the 

 cost will be about one rupee whereas, according to Mr. Hutchinson's 

 method the cost will be two rupees. But time is more valuable when 

 the multivoltine moths are to be examined. If examination is done 

 according to the Pasteur method three trained overseers will examine 

 about 2,400 moths in a day whereas the same men will require about 

 three days to examine the moths according to Mr. Hutchinson's method 

 and, if they cannot examine all of them, the eggs of unexamined moths 

 have to be destroyed as they will hatch on the eighth or ninth day in 

 summer. One advantage of this method is that the examination can 

 be commenced on the first day after oviposition whereas according to 

 the Pasteur method it would be better if the examination is postponed 

 for three or four days. Pasteur himself advised to wait for a few days 

 instead of examining the gut. 



The gut theory is not a new one. It is as old as Pasteur. All the 

 sericulturists of different countries where multivoltine races are reared 

 and whose climatic conditions are similar to those of India know it but 

 they have preferred the Pasteur method a^ recommended by him and 

 rejected the method of examining the gut. The following letter, which 

 is a translation of Mr. Lambert's letter in French, corroborates the 

 above statements. 



Translation of Mr. Lambert's letter dated the 13th April, 1918. {He is 

 the Director of the Station Sericicole, Mo7itpellier, France.) 

 "1. Generally speaking, the surest means for detecting the pebrine 

 germ is in fact to examine the stomach or the mid-intestine of the cater- 

 pillar. This is the method advised by Pasteur himself for the examina- 

 tion of pupae in the bodies of which the abundance of fatty globules 

 render the search more difficult, as the corpuscles are less numerous 



