A STEEL-EATING INSECT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1741, 16 January 1888, Page 3

A STEEL-EATING INSECT

The existence has just been discovered of a detestable microbe whioh ftsedt upon iron, with as much gluttony as the phylloxera npon the vine. Some time ago ihe greatest consternation existed amony the engineers employed on the railway at Hagen by the accidents occurring always at the same place, proving that some terrible def tot must exist either m the material or the construction of the rails. The German Government directed an enquiry to be made, and a Commission of surveillance to be formed for the purpose of maintaining constant watch where the accidents —one of them, atanded with less of life— had oc curred. It was not, however, until after six months had elapsed that the surface of the rails appeared to be corroded, as if by acid, to the extent of 100 yards The rail was token up and broken, and , wat literally hollowed out by a tbio grey ! worm, to whioh the qualification of " railoverous " was assigned, and by whiob name it is to be known m natural history. The worm is said to be two oentimetres m longtb, and of the ilz* of a prong of a silver fork In circumference. It is of a light grey color, and on the head carries two little glands filled with a corrosive socretlon, whioh is ejected every ten minutes upon the Iron. This renders the iron soft and spongy, and of the color of rant, and it is then greedily devoured by tbe insect. " There is no exaggeration, " says the official report of the (Jommisalon.; * • m the assertion that this creature, for its kind, ia one of the most voracious kind, for it has devoured thirty-six kilogrammes of rail m a fortnight. 11 —" Cologne Gazatte "