106 



of disease among the wild animals, with the object of eradicating from 

 any area those that permit the disease to perpetuate itself. Evidence 

 already to hand indicates that such animals are few in number. 



Some fresh observations on the habits of the ticks themselves show 

 that their movements are not so limited as had been formerly supposed. 

 Ticks that in spring occupy the dry slopes were found to have dis- 

 appeared by June, when large numbers were found in the damper valleys. 

 Experiments made with ticks marked with paint show that the majority 

 tend to migrate down the slope. The conclusions finally reached are 

 that ticks do move about, that the tendency on a slope is to move 

 downwards, and that the migration is hindered when low vegetation 

 is at all abundant. 



Engorged immature ticks have a reaction to light. In darkness they 

 do not drop from their host ; by an increase in the light intensity, the 

 rate of dropping can be increased, reaching its height in direct sunUght. 



I.iSTON (W.G.). " The Next War " : Man rersws Insects. — Indian Jl. 

 Med. Research, Calculla, Special Indian Science Congress Number, 

 1919, pp. 18-25. [Received 13th April 1920.] 



Mankind is now trying t^ make up for the wasts and destruction of 

 the Great War, and is taking cognisance of its common foes. The war 

 against disease requires careful preparation, and the importance of 

 insects in it is now reahsed as never before. In India insects must take 

 the first place among the enemies of man, for two-thirds of the prevent- 

 able diseases can be attributed to their agency. The Medical Service 

 needs organisation, co-operation and, above all, a leader. The sanitary, 

 bacteriological and clinical departments should be more closely com- 

 bined, and the leaders should not be those who rush into print most 

 often and talk loudest. The pubhcation of carefully prepared reviews is 

 a great improvement in the methods of communication. Post-graduate 

 schools are absolutely necessary, owing to the extent of the field and 

 the rapidity of progress. Money is required : at present half the sum 

 available for rural India has to be concentrated against smallpox alone. 

 In twenty years more than ten milhon Uves have been sacrificed to 

 plague, an easily preventable disease, and the economic loss sustained 

 can hardly be exaggerated. 



TiRUNARAYANA IYENGAR (M. 0.). On the Rcsults of a Mosquito- 

 Survey of Indore City. — Indian Jl. Med. Research Calcutta, 

 Speciallndian Science Congress Number, 1919, pp. 26-39, 4 plates. 

 [Received 13th April 1920.] 



The mosquitos found in Indore are:— Anopheles suhfictus {rossi), 

 A. culicifacies, A. stephensi, A. faliginosus and A. barhirostris and several 

 Culicines. The distribution of the larvae in the various sections of the 

 two rivers and other waters is considered, some of the factors that 

 govern their presence being the foulness or pureness of the water, the 

 presence of aquatic plants that shelter the larvae and of algae on 

 which they feed, the purification of contaminated water by vegetable 

 organisms, and the presence or absence of larvicidal and other fish. 

 Fresh or only slightly contaminated w^ater is preferred by the most 



