86 REPORT ON THE DISEASES OF SILKWORMS IN INDIA 



healthy eri caterpillar, and found that Bacillus A and Micrococcus 

 a were present, the micrococcus being very abundant. Lefroy 

 and Ghosh (1912) are therefore quite wrong in saying " flacherie 

 as such does not exist in eri, nor could it." These workers seemed 

 to think that the " Streptococcus " and the " Vibrio " found in 

 mulberry worms were special bacteria and as such could not be 

 present in eri. As Sawamura (1902-03) has shown, the organisms 

 found in cases of flacherie are common free living forms. These 

 occur also on castor leaf and in eri worms. From what I can find 

 out the disease is* the same in every way as" in the other silkworms. 

 It seems to be caused, too, by unsuitable food, so that in its early 

 stages at all events it is a sort of indigestion and may be avoided 

 to a great degree by care in rearing, but here again we are " up 

 against " climate in the long run, so that the trouble is very 

 difficult to control. 



On the whole the eri worm seems to be the hardiest and 

 healthiest silkworm with which we have to deal in India. As I 

 have said, I have been unable to see any cases of disease, but that 

 is far from saying that disease does not exist. The accounts of 

 disease given in the various reports or books on the subject that 

 I have been able to consult, however, all point to this conclusion. 

 Attention, too, may be drawn to the examinations of eri worms 

 given in Appendix I of Basu's report. The examinations of moths 

 made in my census returns — Appendix I H — also show that 

 such diseases as can be detected by that examination are of slight 

 importance. 



