132 THE HONEY-BEE. 



their bodies desiccate, and there is an end of the 

 matter. In the other variety, the brood remains 

 dark and shiny in the hatching-places, and emits a 

 most offensive odour, perceptible at some distance 

 from the hive. When the mischief is very great, 

 combs are sometimes removed which are masses of 

 corruption and foetor. 



Microscopical investigations led to the belief that 

 the source of this dire pest was a microbe, allied to 

 micrococcus. If the germs of this lowly organism 

 find a lodgment on the tender skin of a larva, they 

 propagate with immense rapidity, and cause the 

 death of the young insect. Then, wafted about the 

 hive by the currents produced in ventilation, they 

 pass from one part to another ; or, attaching them- 

 selves to the bodies of adult bees, they are carried 

 from cell to cell, and each of these thus infected, in 

 its turn, becomes a new centre of deadly plague. 



Dr. Schonfeld in Germany made a series of in- 

 teresting experiments, which he considered conclusive 

 on the question of the origin and spread of this 

 disease. From a small piece of foul-brood he pro- 

 pagated, by suitable means, large quantities of the 

 fatal so-called micrococcus, and with it he was able to 

 infect a healthy stock. He, moreover, established the 

 fact that the dried germs float readily in the air. 

 Placing some of the foul-brood in a bell-glass, in 

 which he inserted lightly a plug of cotton-wool, he 

 caused a gentle atmospheric current to pass into the 

 glass, and out by the tube. Then, moistening the 

 cotton-wool with water, and putting some of the 

 liquid under a microscope, he detected what he 

 concluded to be numerous spores. 



