186 



of tJie Anophih s, ilie nets, gloves, «&c. , to be used ;is protection, 

 and the like. Examinations followed, certificates were presented 

 to tliose passing tliem, and it is proposed to continue in the same 

 direction, gradually educating- the whole population to adopt the 

 necessary measures for combating' the disease. 



Wood (E. J.). Some Problems in the Etiology of Pellagra. — 

 Interstate Med. Journal, St. Louis, no. 5, May 191o, 

 pp. 437-442. 



The author contends that the relation to pellag-ra of Indian 

 corn, largely eaten in the Southern States, for instance, by the 

 comparatively immune negro, cannot be established; and he 

 urges that in Carolina, as in Italy, the disease " exactly conforms 

 with the kind of water and land which is invariably selected by 

 the Simulium." This, however, he believes to be S. vittatuin in 

 the United States, not S. reptans. Women are more frequently 

 attacked than men, a fact which throws a doubt upon the insect 

 being- the cause, since it is a field pest, to which men are more 

 exposed. The author adds that uncinariasis is the greatest lowerer 

 of resistance to pellagra, the cause of which is still an open 

 question, and should be investigated without preconceived notions. 



RoiiiiNsoN (Gr. H.). The Rats of Providence (R.I.) and their 

 Parasites. — Ainerican Juarn. Pub. Health, New Yor/i, xVug. 

 1913, pp. 773-776. • 



The outbreak of plague in the West Indies in 1912 led to an 

 extensive examination of rats in Providence. From July to 

 January 341 rats were examined, and of these 195 were infested 

 with 2U53 fleas, 75 per cent, of them being Xenopsijlla cheopis, 

 Roths., and 22 per cent. Ceratophyllus fasclatus, Bosc, 25 per 

 cent. Ctenopsyllus uiusculi, Duges, and 0"5 per cent. Ctenoce- 

 phalus cards, Curtis. Of the rats, equally divided as to sex, 333 

 were Mus norvegic2/s, 2 M. alexandrmus , 4 hybrids between them, 

 1 M. rattus and 1 cross between it and M. norvegicus. The fleas 

 were distributed with comparative uniformity all over the bodies 

 of the rats, but the cold weather created a slight migration 

 towards the more thickly furred pectoral and pelvic regions. The 

 average between July and September was 10'2 fleas per rat and 

 from October to December 3"7, and the mean in clean places was 

 higher than in docks, stables and the like, where the insects 

 probably remain in the nests of the rats except when actually 

 feeding. Laelaps echidninus, Berl., found on 21 per cent, of the 

 rats, increased during the cold weather. Folypla.v spmulosus, 

 Burm., was met with on 24 per cent, and one specimen of 

 Myonyssus decuma/ni, Tirab., was discovered. There were no 

 plague germs either in the animals or in the fleas, and the liver 

 disease in 7 per cent, of the rats was due to tapeworm and 

 similar parasites. 



