20 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



are very common in the region where the tick is recorded to occur. He 

 considers A. persicus a local tick, and hence has seemingly thought it 

 indiscreet to couple the tick with the malady as a transmitter of the latter 

 from person to person. But there is good ground for considering A. per- 

 sicus a widespread creature. A fowl-attacking tick in India is referred tO' 

 the species, and also one in Australia. From a comparison of specimens 

 from these countries with specimens of Argas aniericamis from Texas 

 and with the common fowl tick of South Africa, Claude Fuller (now Natal 

 Entomologist) and myself concluded that all were of one and the same 

 species ; on referring South African material to A. D. Michael, the well- 

 known English authority on the group, we were told that our ticks pre- 

 sented no differences to A. persicus^ and, moreover, that A. persicus was 

 probably nothing more than the European A. reflexus. The A. columbce 

 mentioned by Dr. Behr, it may be added, is given by Neumann as a 

 synonym of A. reflexus. Thus the historical, man-killing tick of Persia 

 appears to be now found on five continents. This is not at all remark- 

 able, for a parasite common to many birds like this one is readily dis- 

 tributed. Two trustworthy correspondents of mine say they have been 

 bittten by our South African Argas, but both scoff at the idea of serious 

 consequences ever following the bite. To note the effect of the bite my- 

 self, I recently permitted a long-starved specimen to refresh itself from 

 my arm. It remained on sixty-five minutes, and then, loosening its hold,^ 

 crawled off In this time it had distended itself fully. The wound took 

 a fortnight to heal, but I scratched the scab off several times when not 

 thinking ; otherwise it might have healed in a shorter time. The swelling 

 and inflammation were slight, as was also the usual exudation of serous 

 matter. The annoyance was limited to an occasional trifling itch such as 

 the presence of a flea at work occasions me. 



Further evidence indicative of the disease-transmission theory is 

 afforded by the circumstances surrounding another tick whose bite is con- 

 sidered serious to man in some parts. I refer to Onithodoros Savignyi, 

 Audouin. This is an African species which mayhap be identical with the 

 very one which prompted Dr. Behr's letter.* This tick, in common with 

 mosquitoes and certain other flies, is credited with the spread of fever by 



*Neumann in his monograph does not give extensive ground for separating 0. 

 .SaTng>tfi and O. iiiricata. In this country, natives are known to carry the tick uninten- 

 tionally with their belongings from place to place. It might easily have been introduced 

 into America with slaves in the last century or earlier, just as negroes, returning to 

 Africa, are said to have introduced here the Jigger Flea (Sarcopsylla penetrans) : this 

 latter insect continues to spread, and is now found as far south as Durban, Natal. 



