27 



of them a European. Eig-lit of these cases are apparently trace- 

 able to a visit to, or a residence in, the valley of the Busi River, 

 along the whole of which Glossma morsitans is prevalent. The 

 area of infection is apparently confined to a strip of country about 

 14 miles long- on this river, which is a tributary of the Sengwe. 

 This part of the country is thinly populated and far remote from 

 European settlement. 



An attempt has been made by Mr. Jack, the Government 

 Entomologist, to determine the boundaries of the tsetse area. He 

 was not able to make any very extended observations, from want 

 of time and owing to the dryness of the country, but it would 

 appear that the eastern boundary of the area roughly coincides 

 with the watershed between the Bunie and Seseme Rivers; to the 

 north it is bounded by the Sig-ilala Hills; while on the west the 

 boundary runs from a point eight miles from the Zambesi to the 

 Masumu River, passing southwards to the Mlendi and Mzola 

 Rivers. The fly does not come down to the point where the 

 Mzola joins the Shangani and no fly is reported on the Shaugani 

 itself. The southern boundary could not be ascertained with any 

 approach to accuracy; and from the point of view of the selection 

 of the site to which the natives might be moved, this is not of 

 much importance, because the whole district north of the Kana 

 River is dried up for 40 or 50 miles. 



Mr. Jack journeyed some 60 or TO miles up the Kana. far 

 beyond the point where the Hy extends southward towards the 

 Mzola. and found no flv. 



Maeett (Capt. P. J.). The Plilebotomus Flies of the Maltese 

 Islands.— /?. A. J/.C. Joiwn.. xx, no. 2, Feb. 1913, pp. 162- 

 171. 



Professor jN'ewstead, of the Liverpool School of Tropical 

 Medicine, has worked out the different species of the genus 

 Phlehotomus found in Malta, but it is certain that other species 

 exist in Gozo. One of these greatly resembles F. papatasii, and 

 is similar, if not identical, with a fly found in Austria, but 

 there is a variety found in Mostar which differs from the Malta 

 species of that name in certain essential details, and it is 

 possible that this difference in the species of fly accounts for the 

 difference in the severitj' of the Maltese and of the Austrian sand- 

 fly fever respectively. 



Life-history. — P. papatasii breeds in caves and in the recesses 

 of embankments made of rocks and stones; disused chambers in 

 the embankments to the fortifications, which have been partially 

 filled with stones and rubbish, serve the same purpose. P. per- 

 niciosus and P. miniitvs breed chiefly in ordinary rubble walls 

 and in the bastions, and also in the ground ventilators of build- 

 ings. The eggs hatch out in from 6 to 9 days. If kept some- 

 what dry they have been known to hatch 20 days after being- 

 laid. The period in nature has not been determined, as the eggs 

 are too small to be found. The larvae live about 8 weeks in 

 summer, but when the temperature is low or there is an excess of 

 moisture they appear to assume a resting stage m which they are 



