XXXll 



EIGHTH AWARD OF THE SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL 



AND GRANT. 



(Fund raised by Members of the British Association in 

 commemoration of their visit to South Africa in 1905.) 



Charles Pugsley Lounsburv, B.Sc, F.E.S., Chief of the 

 Division of Entomology, Union Department of Agriculture, 

 Pretoria, Transvaal, was nominated for the award upon the 

 following grounds : — - 



" Mr. Lounsbury came to South Africa in 1895 as Govern- 

 ment Entomologist in the Department of Agriculture of the 

 Cape Colony, Capetown. 



" The greatest service since rendered by him to South Africa 

 arose out of his investigations in regard to the transmission of 

 disease by ticks. As resulting from those investigations he was 

 able conclusively to demonstrate :— 



" I. That Heartwater, a virulent disease in sheep, goats, 



and cattle, is transmitted by the Bont Tick (Amblyomma 



hcbraum) , and his study of the life-historv of this tick had as 



its result the successful application of dipping as the best method 



of controlling it. 



" 2. That Malignant Jaundice of the Dog is transmitted 

 by the Dog Tick {H(cmaphysalis leachi), and so he proved that 

 there was a previously unsuspected coincidence between the life- 

 history of this tick and the parasite causing the disease. 



" 3. That East Coast Fever, the most dreaded cattle disease 

 in the country, is transmitted by the Brown Tick {Rhipiccphalus 

 appcndicnlatus) and its allies, and his exceedingly minute inves- 

 tigation of the life-cycle of the Brown Tick opened the way for 

 that system of short-interval dipping which is giving such good 

 results in practice in keeping the tick under control. 



" 4. That Arsenate of Soda is the essential ingredient in 

 any dip in order that it may be efTectual for the destruction of 

 ticks. This demonstration not only simplified the work of 

 cattle-dipping, but also greatly reduced the cost, so that to-day 

 dipping is the recognised method of tick destruction throughout 

 South Africa. 



" Sir Arnold Theiler, in his Presidential Address to the 

 South African Association for the Advancement of Science, at 

 its Port Elizabeth meeting, referred to the fact that heart-water 

 at one time rendered the rearing of cattle and small stock almost 

 an impossibility, until Mr. Lounsbury, by his investigation, 

 proved definitely that ticks are responsible for the disease. 



" It was through Mr. Lounsbury's efiforts that the Smyrna 

 Fig industry in this country was made possible through the intro- 

 duction of the different varieties of Smyrna Figs (the chief 

 drying figs of commerce). But the introduction of these figs 

 would have had no practical result were it not that Mr. Louns- 

 bury was also successful in introducing into South Africa the 



