9 



to the probability of the intermediate host being in the ground. The 

 pens were floored with concrete and the experimental calves had no 

 opportunity of lying on ground where infected cows had previously 

 been. Part of the life-history of the parasite may be passed 

 on or in the ground. 



It is suggested that a series of experiments on similar lines should 

 be commenced at a later period of the year, from June to December. 

 Such experiments would determine whether cattle become infected 

 at a period when biting flies are not numerous. A special study 

 should be made of the biting flies of the territory, particular 

 attention being paid to those which attack buffalo and also terrestrial 

 insects which may be possible vectors. 



DiGUET (L.). Nouvelles observations sur le mosquero ou nid d'araignees 

 sociales employe comme piege a mouches dans certaines localites 

 du Mexique. [Further observations on the mosquero or nest of 

 gregarious spiders used as a fly-trap in some localities of 

 Mexico.] — Bull. Son. Nat. Acclimat., Paris, Ixii, no. 8, August 1915, 

 pp. 240-249, 4 figs. 



Coenotele gregalis, E. Simon, is the spider whose nest is employed 

 as a fly-trap in certain parts of Mexico [see this Review, Ser. B, iii, 

 p. 151]. The Drassid spider, Poecilochroa convictrix, E. Simon, and a 

 minute Clavicorn beetle, Corticaria nidicola, Grouv., are commensals. 

 AVhere the latter was absent, its place was taken by migratory ants, 

 which perform the same duties of cleaning the nest. P. convictrix 

 attacks the larger victims in the web. 



Laveran (A.). Comment le bouton d'Orient se propage-t-il? [How 

 does Biskra boil spread l\ — Ann. Inst. Pasteur, Paris, xxix, no. 9, 

 September 1915, pp. 415-439. 



Man and certain animals can be inoculated with Biskra boil, which 

 often develops on accidental lesions of the skin and can be conveyed 

 by infected towels. As the boils appear on those portions of the body 

 which are not clothed, winged insects seem to be the carriers ; 

 mosquitos and PJdebotomus being especially under suspicion ; bed- 

 bugs have also been suspected. It is quite possible that biting insects 

 may play an important role, not by directly inoculating the virus, but 

 by causing minute lesions which serve as entrances for it. In countries 

 where the disease is endemic, the house-fly seems more adapted for 

 conveying Leishmania than blood-sucking insects, though conveyance 

 would be purely mechanical, as Leishmania tropica does not appear to 

 develop in the house-fly. As regards an animal reservoir of the virus, 

 the dog, alone, seems likely to play this role in regions where cutaneous 

 canine Leishmaniasis is common, as at Teheran. Elsewhere, the 

 patients seem to form the sole reservoir of the virus. L. tropica may 

 include varieties and transmission may differ in different zones of 

 endemicity, and this may explain why observations carried out in 

 India do not agree with others made in Algeria. The foot-notes to 

 this paper include 67 references. 



