56 GYPSY AND BROWN-TAIL MOTHS. [Jan. 



them had taken place, — a conditioto. of things quite unusual 

 where well-grown larvae are concerned. 



The results of Dr. Clinton's work have led him to express 

 the opinion, in the report which he has submitted, that the 

 outlook for a practical application of the fungous disease of 

 the brown-tail moth by means of the distribution of infected 

 material is an unfavorable one; but it should be remembered 

 that his work was hampered and its successful accomplishment 

 interfered with, first, by the fact that the work was begun 

 three weeks later than it should have been ; that the fungus was 

 not available for use until it had already begun to appear in 

 nature; that, the season being nearly two weeks earlier than 

 on the preceding year, two or three generations of the fungus 

 were eliminated from the experiment; and lastly, that the un- 

 usual dryness of the season afforded the most unfavorable con- 

 ditions possible for the, successful issue of the experiment. 



Dr. Clinton was assisted in his work by Mr. A. T. Speare, 

 now a graduate student in botany in Harvard University, who 

 has subsequently been employed by this office to keep the fungus 

 in an active condition by continuous propagation during the 

 late summer, fall and winter, so that it may be available for 

 use as early as may be necessary during the coming spring. 

 This object has been successfully accomplished by Mr. Speare, 

 who has the fungus in good condition for propagation in the 

 greenhouses of the botanic garden at the present writing. It 

 will therefore be possible, if it seems desirable to continue the 

 experiment another year, to make the infections two or three 

 weeks earlier than was possible during the past year, and before 

 the fungus would occur in nature. 



It may be mentioned further that Mr. Speare, despite the 

 well-remembered drought of last August and September, made 

 a successful attempt to spread the disease among the fall nests 

 in a badly infested locality near Lynn, where he produced a 

 destructive local epidemic not observable in adjacent localities; 

 and it is also of interest to note that he succeeded, later, in find- 

 ing larvae containing resting spores in many of the infected 

 nests, — a fact which indicates that under favorable conditions 

 an infection of autumn nests may be depended upon to propa- 

 gate the disease in the following spring. 



