125 



diagnosed or suspected. It is possible that in future this method may 

 prove of value in the diagnosis of the disease. In testing the effect of 

 certain substances on the flagellates, it was found that fresh vertebrate 

 serum was usually fatal within a few hours, but in some cases the 

 flagellates survived for 24 hours or more. Heated serum was less fatal 

 in its effects. Rabbit blood proved to be the most suitable medium 

 for procuring cultures. In inoculation and feeding experiments no 

 flagellates were seen to enter epithelial cells from a rabbit's stomach. 

 One white rat became infected by an intraperitoneal injection of 

 flagellates ; bugs fed on this rat did not become infected. Cimex 

 hemiptera (rotundatus) was fed on citrated blood containing L. donovani 

 flagellates through a membrane of rabbit skin. Numerous flagellates 

 were found in the stomach of the bug immediately after feeding and 

 were also present 29 days later, together with round or oval bodies 

 without flagella resembling the L. donovani body of kala-azar. Develop- 

 ment of the flagellates in the stomach did not take place at temperatures 

 of 61° F. or lower. A subsequent feed on a normal rabbit or rat or on 

 sterile citrated rabbit's blood did not completely destroy the flagellate 

 forms in the stomach. It is possible that a bug, if infected as a larva, 

 may retain the infection throughout life. In a number of preparations 

 of the stomach contents of infected bugs an apparently new thick- 

 tailed flagellate form was observed. Experiments carried out to deter- 

 mine whether bugs can transmit kala-azar to man proved that flagellates 

 present in the stomach were not transferred to sterile citrated human 

 or rabbit's blood during the act of feeding. The view that bugs can 

 directly transmit kala-azar to man thus receives little support. 



KoRKE (V. T.). On a Nosema {Nosema pulicis, n. sp.) Parasite in the 

 Dog Flea {Clenocephalus felis) . — hid. Jl. Med. Research, Calcutta, 

 iii, no. 4, April 1916, pp. 725-730, 1 plate. [Received 30th June 

 1916.] 



Nosema pulicis, sp. n., infesting Ctenocephalus felis is described. 

 Infection of flea larvae begins in the mid-gut and later extends through- 

 out the entire alimentary canal. Infected larvae are characterised 

 by their dark and mottled appearance. Under experimental condi- 

 tions, adults did not readily develop from such larvae, but this may 

 have been due to the advent of cold weather. 



ViLLENEuvE (J.). Dcscription de quelques Anthomyidae nouveaux 

 d'Afrique. [Description of some new Anthomyiidae from Africa.] 

 Ann. Soc. Entom. France, Paris, Ixxxv, no. 1, May 1916, 

 pp. 145-150. 



The following new species are described : — PyrelUa versatilis, from 

 Ruwenzori ; P. bequaerti, from Ruwenzori ; P. ditissima, from Belgian 

 Congo, Transvaal, Natal and British East Africa ; P. ano-rufa, from 

 Cape Colony ; P. maculisquama, from East Africa ; P. distincta and 

 P. laxifrons from the Belgian Congo ; Limnophora semiargentata, and 

 Fannia setigena, from Ruwenzori. The presence of P. cadaverina, L., 

 in the Belgian Congo is noted. 



