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DISEASES OF SILK-WORMS                  107

      sick worms, to which the name of morts-flats or reste-petits
      had been given; but as much ignorance prevailed in
      regard to this disease, which came to be known as Jlacherie,
      as had existed over pebrine.
        On the nth of the previous April, Professor Bechamp
      had already published a pamphlet on this second silk-
      worm disease, and afterwards, in July, 1868, forwarded
      his account to the Academy of Science, which inserted a
                                                 —
      reference to  it. 1  In this pamphlet he wrote:  "A non-
      corpuscular seed may and often does contain, as observed
      by M. de Monchy and by me, other products besides the
      spherules of the vitellus and the fatty globules. They are
      the motile points, much smaller than all the others that
      surround them, and often excessively numerous. We call
      these motile points microzyma  aglaics temporarily, until we
      determine positively their significance. To sum up, so long
      as their parents are unknown, the best course will be to
      procure seed only that is not corpuscular, either internally
      or externally, and that is free from the microzyma aglaia."
        In his Communication of the 20th May, he went further
      in his description, and showed that in this other disease the
      vibrant corpuscles might be entirely absent, while, instead,
      motile particles were noticeable, like those he had ob-
      served in chalk, and equally minute, and on these he
      now bestowed the name of microzyma bombycis, on account
      of the way in which they were coupled two by two, like a
                   2
      figure of eight.
        The next Reports that we find on the subject of silk-
                                                         3
      worm disease come under the date of the 3rd June, 1867.
      They are two letters from Pasteur addressed to M. Dumas.
      Regarding the  first the writer has to make a curious
      explanation. It is dated "Alais, 30th April," and in a note,
      Pasteur says that this letter left Alais on the 4th May and
      that by a postal error it only reached Dumas on the 22nd
      May.   Be that as  it may, the 30th April  is, any way,
        1  Comptes Rendus 67, p. 102.
        2
         Les Grands Problemes Midicaux, par A. Bkhamp, p. 26.
        3
         Comptes Rendus 64, p.  1 109 and C. R. 64, p.  1 1 13.
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