132 NATURE STUDY. 
some time before that the locusts of South Africa were 
killed in great quantities by a certain fungus disease, and 
tubes of this fungus were secured and sent to the infested 
districts. The contents of these tubes were mixed with 
a little sugar and boiled water; then the favorite food 
of the grasshopper (cocklebur) was steeped in the liquid 
and fed to a large number of the insects captured for this 
purpose, and as soon as it was seen that they were infected 
they were released. Others were placed in specially pre¬ 
pared boxes, where they would come in contact with the 
spores of the fungus, and when infected were placed in the 
most badly infested spots. In some places, where the hop¬ 
pers were very thick, a dilute solution of the fungus was 
spread over the ground and upon the leaves of the corn and 
cotton. 
The month of June, when the experiment was tried, 
was very favorable to the spread of the disease, and 
the results were surprising. By July the dead grasshop¬ 
pers were to be found in all parts of the plantation, as 
many as six being found on one stalk of cotton, but it was 
not until a month later that the full results of the disease 
could be seen. By August the diseased insects were to be 
found in quantities, and along the ditches almost every 
plant bore one to a dozen dead hoppers, and it was to be 
seen that from the infected areas the disease had spread 
even to the other plantations, and was steadily doing its 
deadly work. 
In this vicinity was found another locust (Schistocera 
obscura) and many local species of grasshoppers, but these 
did not seem to be at all affected by the fungus, as all the 
dead specimens examined were found to be differentials ; 
so it is almost certain that only the destructive invaders 
were attacked by the disease. 
Although at first it seems like taking a mean advantage 
of the grasshopper to thus destroy him by a disease brought 
