22 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



was fully distended with blood. When they left, there were slight inflamed 

 spots about two millimetres in diameter, but no abrasions visible, so 

 neatly had the operations been performed. The next day the spots were 

 somewhat swollen, and on the next there was a slight exudation of serous 

 matter. There was, however, no pain beyond an itch when I was tired 

 and sleepy. On the night of the third day I was taken violently ill with 

 purging, accompanied by profuse perspiration and weakness. For a short 

 time I was happy in mind (though not in body) with the thought that the 

 ticks had given me an up-country " fever," but to my disappointment no 

 fever set in ; indeed it was two or three hours before my temperature rose 

 to anything like the normal, from which it had dropped nearly three 

 degrees during the acute distress. The following day I consulted the 

 Colonial Medical Officer, and our conclusion was that while the attack 

 might possibly have been induced througji the ticks, the odds were much 

 in favour of ptomaine poisoning; the fact that I had partaken of shop-made 

 sausage a few hours previous to the illness favoured the latter view. There- 

 fore it was desirable to have a fresh test conducted, and as, if the trouble 

 arose from the ticks, there was a possibility of my now being immune, I 

 was not a favourable subject. The Chief Inspector of Sheep for the Colony, 

 A. G. Davison, volunteered to accept the risk, and at once a tick was 

 placed on his arm. In forty minutes its distension was complete and it 

 relaxed its hold. On the next day, feeling stronger myself and too 

 enthusiastic to decide the doubt to heed any danger, I applied another 

 specimen to my own arm ; this one was a mature female, and when it 

 withdrew fifty minutes later it had swollen to ten millimetres in length by 

 seven in breadth. The critical third night passed without mishap either 

 to Mr. Davison or myself. Nearly two months have now elapsed, and 

 still none of the looked-for symptoms have appeared ; and I feel convinced 

 that the sausage was responsible in the first instance. The wound on Mr. 

 Davison's arm healed in ten days. All three on my arm took at least a 

 fortnight, and the last nearer three weeks, but I am less robust than Mr. 

 Davison. The swelling in no case was more than trifling, and the inflam- 

 mation, also slight, lasted but three or four days. I carefully watched for 

 a rise in temperature after the last bite, but none took place. All this 

 detail is mentioned to show that the tick has had a fair trial, and has failed 

 to maintain its evil reputation. But however much one may doubt native 

 traditions, one cannot refuse to credit Livingstone's account ; and there- 

 fore my opinion is strengthened that in some sections the tick is the 



