December, '12] SCIENTIFIC NOTES 489 



This preliminary report summarizes the earlier work against the pest, records 

 the appearance of the clover leaf weevil, Hypera punctata Fabr. between the Rocky 

 and Cascade Mountains and discusses the hfe history, habits and methods of con- 

 trol of the alfalfa weevil. The employment of an ordinary street sweeper and of wire 

 brushes, apparently a modification of the horse rake, was found of much service 

 in crushing the larva; and pupae, though somewhat expensive. A specially inter- 

 esting chapter is that devoted to the natural enemies, particularly the portion relating 

 to imported forms. Two egg parasites and five larval and pupal enemies were in- 

 troduced from Italy through the agency of Mr. W. F. Fiske early in 1911. The 

 outcome of these importations will be watched with much interest by economic ento- 

 mologists. The bulletin is admirably illustrated with a large series of original line 

 and process figures. 



Insect Pests of the Lesser Antilles, by H. A. Ballou. Imperial 

 Department of Agriculture for the West Indies, Pamphlet, Ser. 71, 

 pp. 210, figs. 185. 1912. 



This useful compilation, designed, in the words of the author: "To present in plain 

 and simple language, a brief general account of our present knowledge of some of the 

 principal insect and mite pests of the crops grown in the Lesser Antilles; also of the 

 pests attacking man and domestic animals as well as those of the household," will 

 appeal particularly to entomologists located in Tropical and Subtropical regions. 

 The comprehensive nature of the work involves brief notices of many species, fol- 

 lowing a short chapter on the natural history of insects and another giving the charac- 

 teristics of the more important orders. The grouping mil appeal to the agriculturist, 

 since it is designed to facilitate the recognition and control of the various forms attack- 

 ing plants or animals. Considerable space relatively is given to a discussion of 

 mosquitoes and fleas, an indication of their importance in that latitude. 



In treating of the control of insects, the author rightly emphasizes first of all, the 

 value of preventive measures and then gives detailed information respecting the 

 various insecticides and their method of operation. The author discusses and recom- 

 mends to a limited extent, the use of corrosive sublimate and phosphorus, two ex- 

 tremely dangerous poisons rarely advised by entomologists in temperate regions. 

 ]Many of the illustrations are excellent, not a few being from American Government or 

 State publications while some are rather crude. The author is to be congratulated 

 upon having prepared such a convenient compilation. 



Scientific Notes 



Stable Fly and Infantile Paralysis. The successful transmission of infantile paraly- 

 sis in monkeys through the bite of the blood-sucking stable fly iSto7noxys calcitrans) 

 has been announced by Prof. M. J. Rosenau of the Harvard Medical School and C. T. 

 Brues of the Bussey Institution, Harvard University-, and their results have been 

 confirmed by Dr. J. F. Anderson of the Public Hea'-th and Marine-Hospital Service. 



The hypothesis advanced last year by Brues and Sheppard that the stable fly is 

 the carrier of this disease has thus been given experimental proof, although it is 

 still possible that other channels of infection may exist. With the exception of the 

 investigations of Doctor Anderson, the work was done under the auspices of the 

 Massachusetts State Board of Health, and the announcement appears in the Monthly 

 Bulletin of that board for September, 1912. 



