138 



Williams (T. H.). Report of the Live Stock and Brands Department. 



— South Australia Rept. Minist. Agric. for Year ended Wtli June 

 7919, Adelaide, 1919, pp. 74-77. [Received 2nd June 1920.] 



While great numbers of sheep in South Australia are still infested 

 with lice, the number has been less than half the previous year's 

 figures, owing to the compulsory dipping practised. The matter still 

 requires very serious attention from sheep owners, and as infested 

 sheep have been found by the inspectors outside the compulsory 

 boundary of last season's dipping, the area has been extended. 



The sheep bot fly, Oestrus o^;^s. is rapidly spreading all over the State, 

 and nothing can be done to prevent it. [R.A.E., B, vi, 93.] 



Sarcoptic mange has been the cause of so many deaths among 

 young pigs and of such bad condition in others that the Government 

 has now proclaimed it a contagious disease. Owners have also been 

 given notice to treat infected pigs, disinfect sties, etc. 



Bot-fly Remedy. — Queensland Agric. JL, Brisbane, xiii, no. 4, April 

 1920, p. 146. 

 A simple preventive suggested for infestation of sheep by bot-fly 

 [Oestrus ovis] is to place Stockholm tar in the bottom of the trough to 

 the depth of one inch, and cover it with salt. While the sheep are 

 licking the salt, tar gets on the nose and into the nostrils and is said 

 to prevent the bot-fly from depositing eggs or larvae in them. 



Walden (B. H.). Mosquito Work in 1919. — Conn. Agric. Exjd. Sta., 

 New Haven, Bull. 218, 1920, pp. 193-196. 

 The drainage system on the salt marshes of Connecticut as an 

 anti-mosquito measure was maintained in good condition throughout 

 1919. During the first half of the season the marshes were compara- 

 tively dry and free from mosquitos ; in the latter half of the season 

 however conditions were extremely favourable for mosquito breeding,, 

 owing to freqvient rains and high tides. As some exception has been 

 taken to the provisions of the Act of 1917 [R.A.E., B, vi, 190] defining 

 the financial responsibilities of towns in infested areas for supervision 

 and maintenance charges, this Act has been revised by an amendment 

 which is quoted verbatim and which provides for the chief charges 

 being met by the State. Details of the anti-malarial measures 

 carried out in various localities are given. While no new mosquito 

 works were constructed during the year, plans have been made for 

 draining another 50 or 60 acres of salt marsh during 1920. 



SuGAi (C.) & Kawabada (K.). Leprosy and Tubercle Bacilli, Viability 

 of, in Alimentary Tract of the Fish and Fly. — Igaku Chuo Zasshi 

 [Central Jl. of Med. Sci.] no. 271, 5th February, 1918. (Abstract 

 in China Med. Jl, xxxiv, no. 2, March 1920, p. 170.) [Received 

 3rd June 1920.] 

 Experiments with flies fed with a suspension of tubercle bacilli 

 showed that after five hours the abdominal contents and faeces con- 

 tained tubercle bacilli which were pathogenic to guineapigs. It is 

 considered probable that leprosy bacilli also retain their virulence in 

 the fly, as similar experiments showed that both tubercle and leprosy 

 bacilh do so if fed to fish. 



