78 



substances to the water. The apparatus and technique employed are 

 described. 



In the experiments based upon taste, the largest number of eggs 

 was laid on 0-6 per cent, solution of common salt, while very few 

 were laid on an equimolecular solution of sugar, though the preference 

 of the adult mosquito in captivity for solutions of sugar is well known. 

 For oviposition a salt solution of low strength appears to be preferred 

 even to distilled water, the strength being considerably below 1 per 

 cent. A list is given of certain organic salts that always gave better 

 results than their corresponding acids. The results are also recorded 

 with certain inorganic acids acting against an alkali and with certain 

 well-known disinfectants, and with vegetable products, such as mannite 

 and asparagin. 



As regards temperature, it would appear that at from 73° to 95° F. 

 almost all the species of mosquitos experimented with — the notable 

 exception being Anopheles siihpictus (rossi) — preferred the highest 

 temperature. 



Sharma (H. N.). a Preliminary Note on the Action of Acids, Salts 

 and Alkalies on the Development of Culicid Eggs and Larvae. — 



Rept. Proc. 4th Meeting, Pusa, February 1921, Calcutta, 1921, 

 pp. 199-204, 1 plate. 



The chemicals used in these tests to ascertain their relation to the 

 development of eggs and larvae of Culicids included a number of 

 acids, salts and alkalies, some of which were chosen with regard to 

 their occurrence in natural breeding-places, while others had reference 

 to their larvicidal properties. The interesting facts regarding the 

 behaviour of these chemicals towards Culicid eggs and larvae are 

 recorded merely as giving some clue to possible lines upon which 

 future investigations might profitably be pursued. The eggs employed 

 were those of Culex fatigans, this being the commonest domestic 

 mosquito, and the results of the tests are shown in a series of tables 

 and a graph. 



Of those substances in which the life-cycle was completed, the 

 quickest larval development took place in sodium tartrate 0-5 per 

 cent., the slowest in potassium chloride, and the average development 

 in water, potassium citrate 0-5 per cent, and salicylic acid 0-001 per 

 cent. It is significant that the substances in which the eggs did not 

 hatch, or the larvae died soon after hatching, include some of those 

 in which the least number of eggs were laid according to the records 

 given in the preceding paper, namely, among acids, citric, oxalic, malic, 

 lactic, sulphuric and hydrochloric, and among alkalies, caustic potash 

 and caustic soda ; while the largest number of eggs was laid in sodium 

 tartrate, which seems to be well adapted to hastening larval and 

 pupal development. The toxicity of potassium hydroxide proved 

 far greater than that of sodium hydroxide of the same strength. 



Christophers (S. R.). The Distribution of Mosquitos in Relation to 

 the Zoogeographical Areas of the Indian Emi^ire.^Rcpt. Proc. 

 4th Ent. Meeting, Pusa, February 1921, Calcutta, 1921, pp. 205- 

 215, 1 plate. 



This paper is supplementary to the author's " Revision of the 

 Nomenclature of Indian Anophelini " [R. A.E., B, iv, 74]. Following 

 Blandford's plan of a zoogeographical division of India, largely based 

 upon the distribution of mammals, the country is considered under 



