108 



Sinclair (J. M.). Veterinary Report. — Rhodesia Agric. Jl, Salisbury, 

 xiii, no. 2, April 1916 pp. 265-268. 



During January 1916 an outbreak of African Coast fever occurred 

 in the Mazoe District. Tr}'panosomiasis was present among pigs on 

 two farms on the Umfuli River, under conditions which point to 

 infection by vectors other than tsetse fly [Glossina morsitans']. 

 Prehminary experiments with this form of the disease have been carried 

 out and arrangements made for the regular dipping of the remaining 

 pigs in an arsenical solution. In February, one case of African Coast 

 fever was recorded in the Mazoe District in a herd not previously 

 infected, but running on the same infected veld near the dipping tank, 

 and fresh outbreaks occurred in the Melsetter District. An undeter- 

 mined skin disease among cattle in the Wankie District may have 

 been due to Amhlyomma variegatum (bont tick), which occurs in that 

 ^rea. 



Eltringham (H.). Some experiments on the House-fly in Relation to 

 (^ the Farm Manure Heap.— JL Agric. Sci., Camhriclge, vii, pt. 4, 



pp. 443-457, April 1916, 3 figs. [Received 31st May 1916.] 



The object of these experiments was to test the fly breeding capacity 

 of the farm manure heap in the open as distinguished from heaps close 

 to dwellings and to ascertain how far it is true that all manure heaps, 

 wherever placed, breed flies. Six experimental heaps were established, 

 three close to the laboratory buildings at Rothamsted and three others 

 about 33 yards from these buildings and 74 yards from the nearest 

 cottages and about a quarter of a mile from the main street of the village 

 of Harpenden. A rectangular trench 1 foot deep and 18 inches wide 

 was dug round the area on which the heaps were to be placed and lined 

 with boards. This trench was then filled in to ground level with loose 

 earth and old manure straw forming a hght mass suitable for the 

 pupation of the larvae. A wooden frame 1 foot deep and 5 feet square 

 was placed on the inner side of the trench to serve as a container for 

 the manure. The trenches and the manure heap were covered with 

 unbleached cheese cloth on frames and wire balloon traps, fitted with 

 a sliding arrangement to render removal and replacement easy, were 

 fixed to the manure heap cover and to the trench covers. A barrow 

 load of horse manure from neighbouring army stables was placed on 

 each heap daily for a fortnight and the heap then covered in ; 23 days 

 later the heap was cleared away. The following flies were caught — 

 Eristalis tenax, L., 1 ; Musca domesfica, L., 3 ; Stomoxys calcitrans, L., 

 5 ; Fannia canicidaris, L., 1 ; ChortophUa cilicrura, Rnd., 4 ; Hydro- 

 taea armijpes, F., 2 In another experiment manure was obtained from 

 a stable closely surrounded by houses and near to a bakery, in 13 days 

 the following files were captured : — M. domestica, L., 798 ; S. calci- 

 /rans, L.,31; C. cilicrura, ^nd., 22 ; F.canicularis,^.,^; H.armipes, 

 F., 10. Over 85 per cent, of Musca domestica hatched from the heap 

 and the remainder from the trenches. Another heap of well trodden, 

 mixed cow and horse manure from a farm yielded in 23 days :■ — 

 E. tenax, L., 8 ; S. calcitrans, L., 8 ; Sargus cujjrarius, L., 15 ; 

 Chrysomyza demandata, F., 2 ; F. canicularis, L., 6 ; C. cilicrura, Rnd., 

 9 ; and a similar heap (not trodden) at the laboratory produced : — ■ 

 E. tenax, 13 ; S. calcitrans, L., 9 ; C. cilicrura, Rnd., 14; Scatophaga 



