80 



Cragg (Capt. r. ^y.). studies on the Mouth Parts and Sucking 

 Apparatus in the Blood-Sucking- Diptera. No. 1. — Scientific 

 Memoirs by Officers of the Medical and Sanitary Depart- 

 ments of tlie Government of India, uo. 54, 1912, 17 pp., 

 5 pis. 



The species dealt with is Philaematoviyia insignis, Aust., which 

 occurs throughout the Oriental Region and also in Tropical 

 Africa. So far as is known, it preys esclusively on cattle, being- 

 much the commonest blood-sucking fly at Guindy, Madras. The 

 species is stated to breed in dung. 



Cragg (Capt. E. W.). The Structure of Haematopota pluvialis, 

 Meigen. — Scientific Memoirs by Officers of the Medical and 

 Sanitari/ Departments of the Government of India, no. 55, 

 1912, 36 pp., T pis. 



This memoir contains an exhaustive description of the external 

 and internal anatomy of this common Palaearctic Haematopota, 

 and also an account of the method and mechanism of feeding. It 

 is suggested that the transference of the normal parasites of the 

 fly from one individual to another may result from the continual 

 defaecation by the insects upon the skin of the host. 



Disinfection of Poultry Houses and Runs. — Jl. Bd. Agric, London, 

 XX, no. 1, April 1913, pp. 39-41. 



Experiments have been carried out by Mr. H. H. Aitken on 

 this subject on several farms where poultry were kept under 

 average fair conditions, but where the birds were, nevertheless, 

 troubled more or less during the whole year with fleas, lice and 

 mites. The method adopted to get rid of these pests was as 

 follows: — Solutions of commercial disinfectants, made up to 

 double the strength recommended for ordinary domestic use, 

 were applied by means of a watering-can. fitted with a fine rose, 

 to the inside of the house, the wood-work and the soil of the runs, 

 and to the dust-bath. This operation was performed weekly; no 

 improvement was noticed in the condition of the birds at first, 

 but after a period varying from six weeks to two months from 

 the time of the first application, examination of the birds showed 

 that the parasites were greatly reduced in numbers and that they 

 gradually disappeared. The stock became healthier, and the egg 

 production, as compared with that of previous years, showed an 

 average increase of 15 per cent. In one case a cottager, who 

 kept records, stated that an expenditure of 25. on disinfectants 

 had increased his receipts from the eggs from 205. to 245. in the 

 year. In one case the process M'as used at a farm where gapes 

 had caused great trouble in the spring of every year, and last 

 year (1912) the chickens were practically free from it. 



