THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 11 



enormous numbers of larvae and pupae, so that very little col- 

 lecting can be done until after the next good rain. 



In only two instances did the Anopheles larvae form any 

 considerable proportion of the larvae present. Generally they 

 ranged from one to two per cent. At Richmond Park, however, 

 they formed fully ten per cent. — over a hundred were taken. At 

 Deepdene, in the irrigation tanks in a market garden, they also 

 formed about ten per cent, of the total number of larvae, and 

 several hundreds of them were taken. 



It is said that the larvae of Anopheles and Culex are seldom 

 found together, but as every puddle and pot-hole this year was 

 swarming with the larvae of Culex, they necessarily occurred 

 together. 



Theobald, in his " Monograph of the Culicidse," says : — " The 

 only district where malaria occurs from whence collections have 

 been received which contained no Anopheles is Victoria. The 

 specimens from the malarious districts of the uplands of Victoria 

 were Stegomyia fasciata." Again, he says :—" Amongst the small 

 collection of mosquitoes sent from Victoria no Anopheles 

 are included, but a series of Stegomyia fasciata, the Yellow 

 Fever Mosquito, bears a label — ' Abundant in the malarious 

 districts of the uplands of Victoria.' " 



Giles, in his book, "Gnats or Mosquitoes," second edition, also 

 mentions Victoria as the one " notable exception " of the distri- 

 bution of malaria agreeing with that of Anopheles. 



Now, according to all who are competent to express an 

 opinion, there are no malarious districts in the uplands or any 

 other part of Victoria. Attached is a note* from Dr. Jamieson, 

 Lecturer in Medicine at the Melbourne University, and Health 

 Officer of the City of Melbourne, giving a denial to the un- 

 authorized statement on that unfortunate label referred to by 

 Theobald. Victoria always has been, and probably is, quite 

 free from endemic malaria. So the facts are the other way 

 round. Instead of having endemic malaria and no Anopheles, 

 we have Anopheles and no malaria. 



Theobald, in his Monograph, and Giles (" Gnats or 

 Mosquitoes " ) record but four species of Anopheles from 

 Australia. One species is confined to New South Wales, leaving 

 three as occurring in Queensland, where malaria is endemic. 

 One or more of these three species must be concerned in the 



* 96 Exhibition- street, Melbourne. 



Dear Professor Spencer, — So far as I am aware there is no district in 

 Victoria where malaria occurs as an endemic disease. When we get cases 

 they seem always to be imported from Queensland or elsewhere. It is quite 

 possible, of course, that the disease may become naturalized if we have the 

 right mosquito.— Yours sincerely, 



JAMES JAMIESON. 



