302 LOUPIXG-ILL AND BRAXY. 



next spring, T hope to make a series of experiments on the 

 subject. A.n illness, somewhat similar to louping-ill, seems to 

 affect the lambs in the south-east of Italy. I have received 

 Ixodes from the neighbourhood of Taranto, but no one in that 

 part seems to connect the illness and the ticks together. I hope 

 to be there in March next, when I shall endeavour to find 

 whether there is any such connection. In determining the 

 species of Ixodes, I have found some difficulty. Until I have 

 examined the type specimens in continental museums, I find 

 that I do not like to pronounce with certainty what is the 

 species of any individual I may obtain. In the following notes 

 I have followed the nomenclature used in Mr Andrew Murray's 

 handbook of economic entomology. 



1. Ixochs erinaceus, Audonin.— I have had specimens from 

 every county in Scotland, except Orkney and Shetland, Caith- 

 ness, Cromarty, Elgin, Banff, Kincardine, and Linlithgow. In 

 none of these counties excepted have I been able to look or to 

 get any one else to look for ticks. I have also had specimens 

 from all the principal river basins in England. I have found it 

 up to an altitude of 11,000 feet in Peeblesshire. I have 

 generally found it by sweeping among rough grass. I have not 

 found it either on sheep or cattle, though Murray says it is 

 found on the latter. It is common on dogs, in August on rabbits 

 throughout Scotland, and also seemingly on rats. 



2. Ixodes fodicus,MQg\xm.— l have had three or four specimens 

 from Devonshire of an Ixodes which seem to be this species. 

 Murray gives a curious account of this creature attacking a mare. 

 My specimens were found on ferns. 



3. Ixodes marginatus, Leach. — This seems to be the commonest 

 species throughout the south of Scotland, and seems to be the 

 species which may be connected with louping-ill. I have speci- 

 mens obtained from sheep early in the summer from Peebles- 

 shire, Lanarkshire, and Wiltshire. I have none from any place 

 north of the Eorth, but fancy from what I hear that it occurs 

 there. All through the late summer and early autumn it is 

 common on bracken in the upper part of the Tweed watershed. I 

 have several times induced the females to bite my hand, but the 

 bite never was followed by any evil consequences, is not so pain- 

 ful as that of the ordinary cleg. I found it on rabbits and hares 

 early in the year. I made experiments both on mutton and 

 chicken broth with chopped-up specimens of this Ixodes, but 

 found no results which could lead me to suppose that it is 

 poisonous. 



4. Ixodes sy.1 — I have found, in Peeblesshire, Lanarkshire, and 

 Wigtownshire, a species resembling the last, but of a bright red 

 colour. I do not know whether it attacks sheep. I have 

 generally found it on bracken, but in one case on a hare. Both 



