11 



and mixed screenings, chaff, etc. ; G. domesiicus, de G., has recently 

 been taken in the ears of a guincei-pig and of a rabbit ; G. ornatus, Kram., 

 has been taken from skin-scrapings from army horses in France, but 

 has not yet been recorded in the British Isles ; G. plmniger, Koch, and 

 G. canestrinii, Arm., are said to occur among hay in barns, etc., but have 

 not been found by the authors. Chortoglyphus arciiatus, Troup, has been 

 found in flour and in. dust, etc., on the beams and floors of stables 

 and barns. Tyroglyphtis longior, Gerv., and T. siro, L., which are very 

 similar in appearance, are commonly met with in the hypopial stage, 

 and have also been recorded in skin scrapings from horses in France 

 and Flanders. 



Most of the forage Acarids that are found on domestic animals are 

 in the h3^popial nymph stage, though this stage does not occur in the 

 hfe-cycle of all individual mites and is apparently much commoner 

 in some species than in others. The mites in this stage are more resistant 

 to extremes of heat and drought, and are frequently more active than 

 at other times. 



Cheyletus emditus, Schr., which has been taken in groomings from 

 healthy army horses in France and Flanders and also in the ears of a 

 guinea-pig, is predaceous upon many of the above-mentioned Acarids, 

 though it has never been found in sufficient numbers to be very 

 highly beneficial [R.A.E., A, vh, 92.] 



Fillers (A. W. N.). Clinical Notes on the Non-parasitic or Forage 



Mites. — Kept. Grain Pests {War) Committee, Royal Society, London, 

 no. 8, 1920, pp. 26-28. [Received 4th November 1920.] 



Microscopical examinations of scrapings taken from a veiy large 

 number of animals evacuated for mange and contagious skin diseases 

 during a period of the War showed that 14-73 per cent, harboured 

 forage acari. Repeated records show that in time of war there is a close 

 relationship between grain Acarids and those known to cause mange. 

 Moreover, during harvesting, transport, mihing and storage operations 

 the horse is brought into close contact with the Acarids contained in 

 grain. In all moist conditions of the skin, casual mites may adhere 

 accidentally to wet places, but are not necessarily the cause of disease. 

 . Sarcoptid mites are difficult to find in the early phases of sarcoptic 

 mange, and as a defence for the presence of unnotified mange it has been 

 urged that the disease was due to forage acari, which are easily confused 

 with the mange mites. It seems possible also that some of the obscure 

 cases of shaking of the head in horses, sometimes followed by disastrous 

 results in runaways, may be due to forage acari having gained access 

 to the sensitive lining of the auditory canal. It is therefore of great 

 importance to recognise the non-parasitic acari that occur more or less 

 accidentally on the skin of domestic animals. 



Hygiene. Mesures a prendre pour combattre la Maladie du Sommeil. 



[Measures to combat Sleeping Sickness in the Belgian Congo.] — 

 Bull. Off. Congo Beige, Brussels, 13th Year, no. 10, 15th October 

 1920, pp. 1229-1256. 



This ordinance on sleeping sickness was issued on 8th July 1920 at 

 Boma by the Governor-General of the Belgian Congo in view of the 

 need for new measures. The previous legislation on the subject is 

 reviewed, and details of the restrictions on the movements of both 

 natives and Europeans entering or leaving infected areas are given. 



