160 



were exposed. The second was performed by day with differently 

 coloured tanglefoot papers. 



Yellow had the greatest attraction, red and violet the least ; bluie, 

 green and orange were intermediate. There was no evidence that the 

 sexes differed in their response to various colours, and the response 

 was identical by day and night. Flies other than Musca were few ; 

 but CallipJiora spp. showed colour-preferences similar to those of 

 house-flies. 



AwATi (?. R.) k S\vA^]iNATu (C. S.). Bionomics of Houseflies : 

 III — A Preliminary Note on the Attraction of Houseflies to certain 

 Fermenting and Putrefying Substances. — Indian Jl. Med. Res., 

 Calcutta, vii, no. 3, January 1920, pp. 560-567. [Received 16th 

 July 1920.] 



In these experiments certain substances were allowed to ferment or 

 putrefy, and were tested chemically from day to day. It was observed 

 that house-flies {Musca divaricata and M. 'promisca) began to be 

 attracted to a particular substance after it had undergone a certain 

 degree of chemical change ; the number of flies attracted reached its 

 maximum at a certain stage of the process, after which it began to fall, 

 till at last the substance had no attraction. The substances used 

 were rice, wheat, pulses, egg, meat and fish. 



Tables are given of the results of all the experiments. The first two 

 substances did not attract very many flies. The pulse attracted more, 

 possibly because of the presence of putrescible components ; but the 

 egg, meat and fish attracted much the largest number. As a result it 

 seems that some strong smelling substances connected with putrefaction 

 such as ammonia, sulphuretted hydrogen, some organic compounds of 

 phosphorus, etc., may be necessary to attract flies before they approach 

 what is otherwise a satisfactory food. Akalinity or acidity of a 

 fermenting or putrefying mixture has nothing to do with attraction of 

 flies. 



The flies in question did not oviposit in any of the substances. 



Senior- White (R. A.). On the Occurrence of Coleoptera in the 

 Human Intestine. — Indian Jl. Med. Res., Calcutta, vii, no. 3, 

 January 1920, pp. 568-569, 1 plate. [Received 16th July 1920.] 



A pathological condition caused by the presence of the Scarabaeid 

 beetle, Onthophagus bifasciatus, F., in the human intestine is recorded. 

 The disease appears to be confined almost entirely to children of from 

 three to eight years old, and to occur only in the low country of Ceylon. 

 It occurs both in Sinhalese and Tamil children. 



It is probable that whilst in the intestine the larvae are faecal feeders 

 but how and at what stage they get there, and how they remain un- 

 passed during the larval and j^upal stages is unknown. The adults 

 are passed and escape ; in the case noticed here the individuals passed 

 were all females. 



Though seldom or never serious, these cases are sufiiciently common 

 to have a definite vernacular name. Possibly infection take place 

 through ova or young larvae in one or other of the semi-decayed forms 

 of dried fish that form a regular article of diet with both the Sinhalese 

 villager and the Tamil estate coolie. 



