147 



the breeding places are reviewed in some detail, with a map and 

 illustrations. The Malayan element in the fauna of the lower hills 

 is very marked. Notes are given regarding nine species of Anopheles 

 and twenty-one other Culicids collected during the survey. The only 

 malaria-carrier of importance on the estates in the area examined was 

 A. niaculatus. This species breeds all the year round, and in every 

 natural collection of water except the river. The malarial incidence 

 is, however, insufficient to justify any very expensive m.easures for its 

 eradication. Siegoinyia fasciata, the yellow fever mosquito, has not 

 been found. 



Ferguson (E. \\'.). The Malaria Danger. [Correspondence.] — Med. 

 JI. Australia, Sydney, 8th Yr.. i, no. 21, 21st May 1921, p. 432. 



The question of the establishment of endemic foci of malaria in New 

 South Wales has prompted the author to record in this letter the 

 occurrence of Anopheline mosquitos. The information has been col- 

 lected from records mostly already published. 



There are five species oi Anopheles in Australia : — A . anmilipes. Walk., 

 A. atraiipes, Skuse, .4. stigmaticus, Skuse, A. corcthroides, Theo., 

 and .4. barbirostris, Wulp, var. bancrofti, Giles. The two latter occur 

 in southern Queensland and have not been recorded in New South 

 Wales. The most common mosquito is A. annulipes. Its range 

 probably extends over the whole of Australia and it occurs throughout 

 New South Wales, with the possible exception of the higher mountain 

 ranges and the trans-Darling country. Along the coast the species 

 is widespread but not as abundant as it is inland. 



It is thought that there is httle likelihood of endemic malaria 

 following the return of infected troops, owing to the relative scantiness 

 of mosquitos in urban areas, and the scattered population in country 

 areas. Settlers known to have suffered from the disease have been 

 excluded from one district likely to prove an exception. 



The estimation of the chances of infection in any locality is not 

 simple. As Ross points out this depends on the average of the popula- 

 tion, the number of infected persons, the number of those whose blood 

 contains enough sexual forms of the parasite to infect Anophelines, 

 the number oi Anopheles, the number of those which feed on a single 

 person, the proportion surviving one week, and the proportion of sur- 

 vivors that bite again. Ross calculates that one quarter of Anophelines 

 succeed in biting human beings and only a third of these survive a 

 w^eek, and only a quarter of the remainder succeed in biting a second 

 person. Hence only one in forty-eight is ever likely to give infection. 

 In the future it is hoped to continue mapping out the distribution of 

 mosquitos and investigation of places from which endemic cases are 

 reported. 



Keilix (D.). On the Life-history of Helicosporidiuni parasiiicuni, 

 n. g., n. sp., a new Type of Protist parasitic in the Larva of 

 Dasyhc/ea obsciira, Winn. (Diptera, Ceratopogonidae) and in some 



other Arthopods. — Parasitology, Cambridge, xiii, no. 2, June 1921, 

 pp. 97-113, 3 plates, 5 hgs. " 



The systematic position and life-history of Helicosporidium 

 parastticiim are described. The larvae of Dasyhelea obscura are 

 susceptible to infection in all stages, probably owing to their feeding 

 habits. Those examined were found in the decomposed sap in 



