85 



whether human beings or game are present at all. The presence or 

 absence of game depends upon grazing facilities, but these have no 

 relation to the presence or absence of the tsetse-fly ; nor has the 

 prevalence of sleeping sickness any relation to the number of 

 <jr. morsitans or to the number of game in any given area. Wild 

 .•animals may act as hosts for the trypanosome of sleeping sickness, 

 but the author considers it a dangerous assumption to conclude that 

 they are the chief reservoir of the disease. Even if this were the case, 

 the possibility of exterminating all the wild animals in any part of 

 Tropical Africa is considered quite impracticable, nor is it considered 

 that such a measure would have the effect of eliminating the disease, 

 WTiile excluding the majority of wild animals as a danger in the 

 transmission of sleeping sickness to man, the author is inclined to 

 suspect one or two. Of these the pig is considered the most dangerous, 

 not only the wild bush pig and wart-hog, but more especially the semi- 

 domesticated pigs frequently seen in native villages. 



In an attempt to collect evidence in the Bahr-el-Ghazal and the 

 Congo for or against the theory that wild animals are an important 

 reservoir of sleeping sickness, a microscopic examination of the blood 

 ■of many animals was made as soon as possible after each was shot. 

 •Of 160 animals so examined, only 5 were found to have trypanosomes 

 in their blood and of these, only one, a wart hog, harboured a trypano- 

 some that might be mistaken for that of the disease in man. On no 

 occasion were trypanosomes discovered in buffalos. 



Davies (F. C.) & Weldon (E. P.). A Preliminary Contribution on 

 "P. U. 0. (Trench Fever)."— JL R.A.M.C., London, xxx, no, 1, 

 January 1918, pp. 92-94. 



Since direct communication of trench fever from man to man does 

 not appear to occur, it is probable that transmission must be effected 

 by blood-sucking parasites. With this theory in view, one of the 

 authors allowed himself to be bitten by lice that had been starved for 

 three days and then fed, under a watch-glass, upon patients suffering 

 from trench fever in an acute stage. Twelve days later the character- 

 istic symptoms manifested themselves, and he passed through a typical 

 attack of average severity, accompanied by the usual pains and 

 symptoms. 



The success of this experiment was so marked that the results are 

 given without further investigation, in order that the anti-louse 

 campaign may be prosecuted with increased vigour. 



Woodcock (H. M.). Note on the Epidemiology of Dysentery. — Jl. 

 R.A.M.G., London, xxx, no. 1, January 1918, pp. 110-111. 



The importance of flies as a factor in the spread of amoebic dysentery 

 has been proved by the demonstration of the passage of amoebic cysts 

 through the intestine of the fly [see this Review, Ser. B, v, p. 117]. As 

 a consequence of this there has been a tendency to regard the fly as the 

 •essential agent in the spread of this disease and to overlook the 

 important part played by water. Amoebic cysts cannot withstand 

 drying, but can retain their vitality in water for at least a fortnight 

 and probably much longer ; hence for amoebic dysentery to be prevalent 



