McLAIN, 1887. 30 
paper, because his description of the larve dead of the disease in the 
sample which Cheshire gave to him as foul brood was quite good for 
European foul brood and not good for American foul brood; because 
Bacillus alver was found in sufficiently large numbers to lead these 
men to suspect that the organism was the cause of the disorder; and 
because no other species was mentioned as being present in numbers 
sufficient to cause suspicion of a casual relation. All must agree that 
if Cheyne did not work with a sample of European foul brood in the 
preparation of his paper, his work can not be given the credit which 
it seems to deserve. 
McLatrn, 1887. 
A paper by N. W. McLain,‘ containing a discussion of bee diseases, 
was written in the form of a report on some work done by him. The 
first disorder which he considers is referred to as the ‘‘quaking 
disease.”’ It was thought by McLain that bees would visit milkweed 
and mullein to obtain from the sap of these plants certain salts as 
food, if such salts could not be obtained from the ordinary sources. 
In so doing, thousands of bees lost their lives before, as well as after, 
reaching the hives. By examining such bees under a microscope, 
many were found to be entangled in filaments derived from the sap 
of the plants visited, and with empty stomachs. The peculiar nerv- 
ous motions made by these starved and weakened bees in their effort 
to disentangle themselves from the meshes of the fibers is one mani- 
festation of the condition known as the ‘‘quaking disease.”’ Another 
form of this disease was supposed to be of hereditary origin, since it 
was believed that by removing the queen from an affected colony and 
introducing a young, vigorous one the trouble would disappear. A 
third form of the disease mentioned had been reported to be due to 
the use of poisonous nectar from such plants as foxglove (Digitalis). 
McLain therefore placed at least three distinct abnormal condi- 
tions under the name ‘‘quaking disease.’’ He writes definitely con- 
cerning the cause of the first condition only. The second condition is 
probably that which is now known as paralysis, and the third condition, 
that of poisoning, is occasionally reported by bee keepers as a cause 
of trouble in the apiary. Very little is definitely known at present 
concerning any of these disorders. In the treatment of the first 
condition mentioned he used a drug and reported success. 
McLain also made a report on foul brood. Having spoken of the 
gravity of the disease he writes that he had during the year given 
much attention to the study of the disease and to experiments for its 
prevention and cure. That the disease was contagious appeared to 
| 1McLain, N. W.,1887. Report on experiments in apiculture. Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture 
for 1886, pp. 583-591. Washington: Government Printing Office. 
