42 



denopsylhe, Laveran & Franchini, and H. ctenocephali, Fantham, 

 with the flagellates of Nepa cimrea, H. jaculum, Leger, and with 

 Crithidia melojjhagi, Flu, from the sheep Hippoboscid [Melophagus 

 ovinus]. 



Of 16 mice inoculated with cultures of H. ctenocephali and C melo- 

 phagi, 9 died or were killed when in a dying condition. As the cul- 

 tures were pure, there was no question of any bacterial infection 

 associated with the flagellates The gravity of the disease was in 

 direct proportion to the age of the mice, the youngest being the most 

 severely affected. Examination showed an increase of volume in the 

 liver and spleen, liver smears showing numerous parasites, apparently 

 Herpetomonas. In the case of mice inoculated in the peritoneum with 

 blood from the liver or spleen of a mouse inoculated by cultures, 

 no increase of virulence in the parasite has been noticed. 



ScHWETZ (J.). La Maladie du Sommeil dans le Nord-Katanga (Congo 

 Beige) en 1913-1918.— 5^//l. Soc. Path. Exot., Paris, xii, no. 9, 

 12th November 1919, pp. 671-680, 1 map. 



The country in the region of the Lomami River in which tsetse-fly 

 conditions have been studied by the author is described, and an account is 

 given of the preferred habitat and vegetation in which each species is 

 found. The species include Glossina ynorsitans, G. palpalis, G. pallidipes, 

 G. brevipalpis and G. fa sea. A study of the relations between these 

 flies and sleeping sickness has led the author to the conclusion that 

 while G. palpalis seems undoubtedly to be the principal carrier, and 

 while other species of Glossina may take some share in its transmission, 

 neither G. palpalis alone nor yet the other species in conjunction can 

 explain the incidence of the disease. The aetiology or at least the 

 epidemiology of sleeping-sickness being so obscure, it is not astonishing 

 that prophylaxis has given such poor results up to the present time, 

 especially in view of the fact that it is almost impossible to carry out 

 prophylactic measures amongst the natives. 



EscoMEL (E.). Le Latrodectus mactans ou " Lucaeha " au P6rou. 

 Etude clinique et experimentale de TAction du Venin. — Bull. Soc. 

 Path. Exot., Paris, xii, no. 9, 12th November 1919, pp. 702- 

 720, 2 figs. 



The poisonous spider, Latrodectus mactans, has existed in north 

 and south Peru from very early times, though recent studies in 

 Arequipa have drawn attention to it for the first time. It lives among 

 stones and small plants, preferably on the boundary between cultivated 

 and uncultivated regions, and sometimes enters maize and lucerne 

 fields, constituting a danger to the harvesters or animals in them. 

 In man and animals the poisonous bite produces more or less severe 

 symptoms. A strong intraperitoneal injection of extracts of the eggs 

 rapidly causes death. Repeated bites have produced a certain degree 

 of immunity in laboratory animals. Fractional injections of the eggs 

 have not in any case produced immunity, for, sooner or later, as soon 



