53 



De Charmoy (D. d'E.)- Summary of Investigations on Insect Pests 

 during the five months, July-November 1914. — Mauritius Dept. 

 Agric, Div. Entom., 4th December 1914, 2 pp. 



The following Ixodidae are given as the commonest species affecting 

 domestic animals in Mauritius : — Argas persicus on fowls ; Amhlyomma 

 variegatum on deer, cattle, and goats ; Rhipicephalus sanguineus on 

 cattle and dogs ; R. evertsi on cattle and goats ; Boophilus [Marga- 

 ropus) decoloratus on cattle. The fowl flea, Echidnophaga gallinacea,. 

 is reported on poultry in the north of the island ; a thorough dressing 

 of the head with kerosene and cocoa-nut oil is recommended against 

 it. The ground should be frequently sprayed with clear water, or 

 watered with kerosene and phenyl mixture (1 per cent.), to destroy 

 the larvae which breed in rubbish and animal matter in dry, shaded 

 spots. 



Macfie (J. W. Scott) & GallaCxHer (G. H.). Sleeping Sickness in 

 the Eket District of Nigeria. — Ann. Trop. Med. & Parasit., 

 Liverpool, Ser. T. M., viii, no. 3, 15th December 1914, pp. 379-427, 

 16 figs., 5 pis., 1 map. 



Though the Eket district of Southern Nigeria is a by no means 

 inaccessible region, and has been for 25 years the scene of the activities 

 of the Kwa Ibo Mission, the existence of sleeping sickness there was 

 not suspected until eight years ago. The physical features of the area 

 are described, game being said to be rare, as might be expected 

 considering the density of the population. Biting flies are numerous, 

 Tabanidae being abundant on the Kwa Ibo River and Chrysops 

 dimid.iata has been taken in several localities. Tsetse-flies are widely 

 distributed, but rarely occur in large numbers. In November and 

 December practically all the flies caught near Ikotobo were 

 G. tachinoides ; only two specimens of 6^. palpalis were taken and a 

 single example of G. caliginea. G. tachinoides is unquestionably the 

 predominant species, and is particularly easy to obtain where pigs are 

 found, and is often seen attacking them. It is considered somewhat 

 remarkable that G. tachinoides should be so common in Eket, where 

 the dense vegetation, the humidity of the atmosphere, and the heavy 

 rainfall would appear to be more suitable for G. palpalis than for that 

 species. In Eket, males appear to be much more affected by sleeping 

 sickness than females, though the natives say that is is equally 

 common in both sexes. The majority of the patients are children, 

 which are carried by their mothers into cultivated areas where 

 G. tachinoides is common. Infected adults include a number of 

 palm-wine collectors who spend their time in the forest or thick bush. 

 The authors think that the parasite concerned {Trypanosoma tiigeriense) 

 presents characters which justify its separation from T. gamhiense. 

 Trypanosomes were exceedingly rare in the blood and even in the 

 gland juices of the patients examined, and it is suggested that it 

 must be a very exceptional occurrence for tsetse-flies to be infected 

 by feeding on these cases. 



The rarity of G. palpalis in the parts of the Eket district most 

 affected by sleeping sickness, makes it difficult to understand how so 

 small a number of these insects can be responsible for so large a number 



