OCTOBEE IS, 1912] 



SCIENCE 



515 



Elmer E. Hoskins, assistant demonstrators in 

 anatomy. Alois F. Kovarik, of the depart- 

 ment of physics, and Herbert H. Woodrow, of 

 the department of philosophy and psychology, 

 have been advanced to the rank of assistant 

 professor. In the agricultural college numer- 

 ous changes in titles and promotions include 

 J. P. Wentling, from assistant to associate 

 professor of forestry; A. E. Kohler, from in- 

 structor to assistant professor of horticulture; 

 J. L. Movsrry, from instructor to assistant pro- 

 fessor of agricultural engineering; H. B. Eoe, 

 in mathematics, W. H. Frazier, in soils, W. L. 

 Oswald, in agricultural botany, Eodney M. 

 West, in agricultural chemistry, A. C. Arny, 

 in agronomy, were all advanced from rank of 

 instructor to assistant professor. A. M. Bull 

 was advanced from instructor in engineering 

 to engineer in charge of buildings with rank 

 of assistant professor. In the college of medi- 

 cine and surgery the following promotions 

 and changes in title were made: W. P. Lar- 

 son, bacteriology and pathology, BE. P. Eitchie, 

 surgery, P. L. Adair, obstetrics and gynecol- 

 ogy, A. S. Hamilton, mental and nervous 

 diseases, E. S. Strout, ophthalmology and 

 otology, Henry L. Williams, gynecology, Wm. 

 A. Hilton, histology and embryology, were all 

 advanced to the rank of assistant professor 

 from that of instructor. 



DISCUSSION AND COBBESFONDENCE 



GYROCOCCUS FLACCIDIFEX AND THE " FLAOHEEIE " 



In Science, August 16, Mr. R W. Glaser 

 and Mr. J. W. Chapman report the discovery 

 of the specific organism which causes " Flach- 

 erie " in the gypsy moth caterpillar, and have 

 named it Gyrococcus flaccidifex. The com- 

 munication which pays a handsome and well- 

 deserved compliment to similar work done in 

 Germany on closely related forms, has com- 

 placently pronounced " some of the attempts 

 made in this country " to be unscientific. In 

 this very generalized criticism direct refer- 

 ence is made to my paper of 1911.' Since a 



'Eeiff, William, "The Wilt Disease, or Flach- 

 erie, of the Gypsy Moth. How to aid the Spread 

 of this Disease." Boston, 1911. Wright & Potter 

 Printing Company. 



number of statements and their general tone 

 are misleading, a brief correction is not out 

 of place. 



In my paper of 1911, the following conten- 

 tions were made : 



1. That the epidemic flacherie can be in- 

 duced by special methods in feeding healthy 

 gypsy moth caterpillars. 



2. That, having obtained material thus dis- 

 eased, it is possible to spread the epidemic 

 flacherie by hanging bags of this dry, dead 

 material in healthy caterpillar colonies. 



3. That by obtaining diseased material early 

 and hanging it soon after the caterpillars have 

 hatched in the field we have a very efficient 

 means of preventing serious damage, because 

 the disease destroys the greater number of 

 larvae at early stages. 



The authors in their study of the flacherie 

 decide that: 



1. This work is unscientific. 



2. That it seems very improbable that any 

 such methods as are at present utilized for 

 the artificial spread of flacherie will be of any 

 avail. 



It is hardly conceivable that two entomolo- 

 gists should insist that another entomologist 

 must work on the bacteriological side of this 

 problem in order to be scientific. Competent 

 bacteriologists, such as Dr. H. N. Jones, work- 

 ing under the direction of Dr. Theobald 

 Smith, of the Harvard Medical School, have 

 already attacked the bacteriological side of 

 this problem, and report negative results in 

 seeking the specific organism.^ Of course, it 

 is possible that an organism which can be 

 seen with simple staining methods or with 

 no stains at all might have been overlooked 

 by the bacteriologists. The authors admit 

 that Gyrococcus flaccidifex can be obtained in 

 great numbers. When a healthy caterpillar 

 is inoculated with a pure culture of Gyro- 

 coccus and dies in a limp or flaccid state, how 

 can any one be sure that this is the same as 



= Jones, Dr. J. N., "Further Studies on the 

 Nature of the Wilt Disease of the Gypsy Moth 

 LarvEe," in The State Forester of Massachusetts, 

 Seventh Annual Report, 1910. 



