59 



Tower (W. V.). Mosquito Survey of Mayaguez. — Porto Rico Agric. 

 Expt. Sta., Mayaguez, Circ. 20, 2nd November 1921, 10 pp., 

 4 plates. 



The mosquito-borne diseases occurring in Mayaguez, Porto Rico, 

 are malaria, yellow fever, dengue and filariasis (elephantiasis). Malaria 

 is most prevalent on the south coast, especially where there are large 

 tracts of coastal swamps and where sugar cane is grown under irrigation. 

 This disease caused 1 ,528 deaths in the island in 1918, and 1 ,576 in 1919. 

 Of the eight species of mosquito found during the survey here 

 described, only three are commonly met with. Cidexfatigans {quinque- 

 Jasciatus) breeds wherever there is standing water, and is generally 

 found in open containers about houses. Aedes argentens [aegypti), 

 the yellow fever mosquito, is always found in clear water, in covered 

 rain-water barrels and cisterns, and in places where there is no direct 

 sunlight. The malarial mosquito of Porto Rico is Anopheles alhimanus, 

 and A . grabhami is also found ; the former occurs in rain-water barrels 

 and cattle troughs, in cane fields and flooded pastures, in streams 

 bordered with grass, and in irrigation and drainage ditches. During 

 the dry season, the rain-water barrel is the most prolific breeding- 

 place, especially in the outlying parts of the city ; in the city proper 

 most of the houses are supplied with running water, and therefore 

 small containers are not necessary ; if this small water storage system 

 could be eliminated altogether, a great improvement would undoubtedly 

 be effected. Where cisterns of the old Spanish type still occur, they 

 should be covered with large planks over which cement is placed, 

 and the conductors should be fitted with wire screens so that adult 

 mosquitos cannot enter them. The habits of the species in question, 

 in water and in flight, are briefly discussed, and general recommendations 

 for a campaign against mosquitos are given. 



PiLLERs (A. W. N.). Cat Flea {Ctenocephalus felis) Larvae in large 

 Numbers upon the Host. — Vet. JL, London, Ixxviii, no. 1, January 

 1922, pp. 21-22, 1 fig. 



Ctenocephalus felis is recorded as occurring in large numbers in the 

 egg and larval stages on cats. The eggs readily drop off the host 

 after being laid, and hatch in from two to four days. The larvae are 

 very sensitive to light ; they pupate in from seven to thirty days after 

 emergence, and the adults appear from five to ten days later. 

 The period from egg to adult occupies on the average about 

 twenty-eight days. 



Gabert (H.). Traitement des Gales du Lapin. — Vie Agric. et Rur., 

 Paris, xix, no. 53, 31st December 1921, pp. 473-474, 2 figs. 

 Mange of the ears in rabbits is caused by Psoroptes communis, 

 and is visible at first only by a minute yellowish crust deep down 

 in the auditory tract. The animal holds its head down with the ear 

 always lowered. At this stage the disease is easily cured by injecting 

 a few drops of olive oil or tobacco extract with a small syringe. For 

 this purpose, tobacco is used at the rate of 3 oz. to 5 pints of water, 

 reduced to one-third by boiHng. For a more advanced stage, a mixture 

 of 1 tablespoonful of carbolic acid to 2 tablespoonfuls of glycerine 

 in 1| pints of water is advised. A simple remedy for the disease in 

 any stage is a mixture of one part of potassium pentasulphide to 

 five of water, injected warm after filtering ; or a warm solution of 

 3 per cent, cresyl, mixed^with two parts of oil and one part oil of 



