Observations on Growth of Fungus Parasitic on Locusts. 11 



the disease, and also stated that it was the best satisfactory 

 announcement he had been able to make for the last seven years 

 regarding the destruction of locusts by natural enemies. 



Early in April I proceeded to Cape Town, to confer with M. 

 Peringuey on this subject ; on my arrival there I found that the 

 Agricultural Department of the Cape Colony had arranged for the 

 resources of the Bacteriological Institute at Graham's Town to be 

 placed at the service of the Natal Government, for the purpose of 

 research into the disease. At the request of the Cape Government, 

 and authorised by Sir John Robinson, I left Cape Town after making 

 the necessary investigations there, and arrived at Graham's Town 

 on the 23rd of April. Before leaving Cape Town I had telegraphed 

 to Richmond for suitable material for the investigation, which 

 arrived at Graham's Town on the 24th of April. 



Dr. Edington, the Director of the Institute, being absent, Dr. 

 Sinclair Black took in hand the cultivation of the fungus ; several 

 media were tried with more or less success, and pure cultivations 

 were obtained of the fungus. Locusts having been obtained in the 

 neighbourhood of Graham's Town, experiments were made to 

 ascertain whether the cultivations would be successful against 

 them. The results of the experiments are quite satisfactory, the 

 affected locusts died in five or six days, and on microscopical exami- 

 nation I was gratified to observe the same results and conditions as 

 I had seen in the dead specimens sent to me in February by Mr. 

 Nicholson, and which had appeared in the successful experiments I 

 had made at Richmond, and as appeared in locusts destroyed at 

 Graham's Town in an experiment in which locusts obtained there 

 had been affected directly by some of the material sent to me from 

 Richmond. 



The results of the investigations so far must be considered very 

 satisfactory, and justify further research and experiments with the 

 view to spreading the disease in other localities, and over South 

 Africa. 



Measures of destruction have been taken from time to time against 

 injurious insects in other countries, by means of diseases somewhat 

 similar to the one now under consideration with more or less 

 success, but I am not aware of any great measure of success having 

 been attained. From information which I have gathered, and 

 from reports which I have seen, I learn that in most instances these 

 measures were tried with fungi which were not natural either to 

 the injurious insects it was sought to destroy or to the localities or 

 countries. 



In the case under consideration the fungus appeared naturally as 



