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DISEASES OF SILK-WORMS 109

From Pasteur, the official inquirer into the diseases of
silk-worms, the Reports of the Academy of Science provide
no further communication on the subject for almost a
twelvemonth.
From Bechamp, on the contrary, a series of Memoirs
show the way in which his detailed, persevering work on
micro-organisms led to his final comprehension of the
silk-worm disease called flacherie.
He had already, on the 2nd April, 1867, sent up a note to
the Academy on "Microscopic Organisms in Saliva."
The matter was so new and unexpected that only a resume
1
was given.
On the 24th February, 1868, he sent up a Note on "The
Molecular Granulations (microzymas) of Ferments and of
Animal Tissues." 2 Here he drew attention to the micro-
organisms to be found in vaccine virus, a plagiarised con-
firmation of which was given by M. Chauveau.
On the 2nd March, 1868, a Note on "The Molecular
Granulations (microzymas) of the Cells of the Liver." 3
On the 4th May, 1868, "On the Origin and Develop-
ment of Bacteria." 4 This was a general demonstration of
bacterial development from the anatomically elemental
microzymas.
It was on the 8th June, 1868, that he applied all the pre-
ceding facts to the disease offlacherie in a Note "On the
Microzymian Disease of Silk-Worms." 5 Here he stated
flacherie to be hereditary owing to the abnormal develop-
ment of the inherent elemental microzymas of the silk-
worm. He showed that the microzymas might be seen
singly or associated in chaplets, or in the form ofvery small
bacteria. To see them, a very high power ofthe microscope
was needed, nothing less than obj. 7, oc. I, Nachet. He
stated that the microscopes supplied to workers by the
1
Comptes Rendus 64, p. 696.
2
C. R. 66, p. 366.
Z
C.R. 66, p. 421.
* C. R. 66, p. 859.
6
C. R. 66, p. 1 160.