18 



Musca domestica and Muscina stabulans oviposit on corpses soon 

 after death and before putrefaction has set in ; Lucilia latifrons 

 and Sarcophaga carnaria are attracted by putrefaction ; flies of 

 the genus Phora do not make their appearance until later. The 

 regulations of the sanitary authorities of various English and 

 American towns are translated at length and the latest work on the 

 treatment of manure heaps is given very fully. In an appendix by 

 H. G. Richter a detailed description, with 2 figures, is given of an 

 installation for the keeping of manure by placing it on gratings over 

 a concrete floor to catch the runnings which are led into a tank fitted 

 with a pump so that they may be thrown again on to the heap in order 

 to destroy the larvae in it ; the manure should not be piled higher 

 than about five feet. This bulletin of 62 pages constitutes an 

 excellent general review of the whole subject and the author appears 

 to have availed himself of the latest information obtainable up to the 

 date of publication. 



In addition to these bulletins, two circulars have been issued, one 

 giving general advice as to how to rid premises of flies, and the other a 

 description, with figures, of a folding food safe. The popularisation 

 of knowledge and information of this kind should do much to assist 

 the sanitary authorities in their work. 



,\ Reports of the Sleeping Sickness Commission of the Royal Society^ 



no. xvi, London, 1915, 221 pp., 32 charts, 16 plates, 3 maps. 



This report is largely a recapitulation of matter which has already 

 been published. The examination of wild animals in the Sleeping 

 Sickness Area in Nyasaland showed that about one-third of the 

 antelopes investigated were infected with various trypanosomes. The 

 same trypanosomes were also found in the wild animals living in the 

 fly-belt of the Upper Shire valley, to the south of the Proclaimed Area. 

 An examination of smaller mammals, including monkeys, gave negative 

 results. Wild game living outside the fly-country were found to be 

 unaft'ected by pathogenic trypanosomes. Glossina morsitans was 

 found to be heavily infected with the same species of trypanosomes 

 as those found in the blood of the wild game. The other important 

 species of tsetse-fly found in Nyasaland, G. brevipalpis, was infected 

 with the same trypanosomes, and it is considered probable that it is as 

 capable of spreading disease as G. morsitans. The trypanosomes 

 with which the wild game and the fly were infected were : — T. hrucei 

 vel rhodiesense, T. pecorum, T. simiae, and T. caprae. The opinion 

 is expressed that T. hrucei, the cause of nagana in Zululand and in 

 other parts of Africa, is identical with T. rhodesiense, causing disease 

 in man in Nyasaland and Rhodesia. T. pecorum, the commonest of 

 the pathogenic trypanosomes in Nyasaland, affects cattle and other 

 domestic animals, and is probably the most important and dangerous 

 species of all those which affect the stockowner. A new species, 

 T. simiae, is described ; it is remarkable for the rapidity with which 

 it kills domestic pigs. 



On account of the marked infectivity of the wild game in the fly- 

 country, the Conmiission recommends that efforts be made to diminish, 

 as far as possible, the number of wild animals in fly-areas. On the 

 hypothesis that the tsetse-fly finds its chief food supply in wild game. 



