  We have carried out high-resolution (~3') HI and CO line observations along
one-dimensional cuts through the Galactic worm GW46.4+5.5. By comparing the HI
data with IRAS data, we have derived the distributions of I_100 excess and
tau_100 excess, which are respectively the 100 mum intensity and 100 mum
optical depth in excess of what would be expected from HI emission. In two
observed regions, we were able to make a detailed comparison of the infrared
excess and the CO emission. We have found that tau_100 excess has a very good
correlation with the integrated intensity of CO emission, W_CO, but I_100
excess does not. There are two reasons for the poor correlation between I_100
excess and W_CO: firstly, there are regions with enhanced infrared emissivity
without CO, and secondly, dust grains associated with molecular gas have a low
infrared emissivity. In one region, these two factors completely hide the
presence of molecular gas in the infrared. In the second region, we could
identify the area with molecular gas, but I_100 excess significantly
underestimates the column density of molecular hydrogen because of the second
factor mentioned above. We therefore conclude that tau_100 excess, rather than
I_100 excess, is an accurate indicator of molecular content along the line of
sight. We derive tau_100/N(H)=(1.00+-0.02)*10^-5~(10^20 cm^-2)^-1, and
X=N(H_2)/W_CO=~0.7*10^20 cm^-2 (K km s^-1)^-1. Our results suggest that I_100
excess could still be used to estimate the molecular content if the result is
multiplied by a correction factor xi_c=<I_100/N(H)>_HI/<I_100/N(H)>_H_2 (~2 in
the second region), which accounts for the different infrared emissivities of
atomic and molecular gas. We also discuss some limitations of this work.
