62 



Flies of the genera Leptocem and Scatopse seem to be worthy of further 

 investigation, as they both breed in human excrement and are found 

 in houses. A species of Scatopse was noted on human foods, and water 

 stored in carelessly covered barrels might well be infected by Leptocera, 

 which are said to fly considerable distances for water. Other species 

 which seemed of potential importance were Muscina stahulans, Fall., 

 Lucilia sericata, Meig., L. caesar, L., Phormia regina, Meig., Calliphora 

 erythrocephala, Meig., C. coloradensis, Hough, C. latifrons, Hough, 

 Fannia scalaris, F., F. canicularis, L., Drosophila ampelojihila, L., 

 and Piophila casei, L. 



Fricks (L. D.). Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. — Public Health 

 Reports, Washington, D.C., xxx, 15th January 1915, pp. 148-165, 

 3 sketch maps. 



In continuation of the field investigations and attempted eradication 

 of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, the author was again ordered to 

 the Bitter Root Valley, Montana, in March 1914. The field work 

 for the year consisted of laboratory investigations and measures for 

 the control and eradication of the disease as well as the study of its 

 distribution. The laboratory experiments will be made the subject 

 of a separate report. Some control over the prevalence of the disease 

 in the Bitter Root Valley must be exercised by the attitude of the 

 inhabitants, who now generally avoid the woods and uncultivated 

 lands of the infected territory during the tick season, or at least 

 protect themselves against tick bites by proper clothing and 

 occasional searching. The measures adopted against the wood tick, 

 Dennaeentor andersoni, comprise the reclamation of arable land, 

 the burning over of the foothills, the killing of wild animals, hand 

 picking and the dipping of domestic animals in arsenical dips, and 

 sheep grazing. The placing of new land under cultivation is effected, 

 as a rule, by means of small isolated fields surrounded by open, 

 uncultivated land. As the full benefit from cultivation is not obtained 

 except in the case of large tracts, and the western foot-hills are too 

 broken for extensive continuous cultivation, it is not expected that 

 this measure alone will greatly affect the problem of tick eradication. 

 An extensive burning over of the foot-hills each spring should reduce 

 tick infestation, but though the systematic attempt to do this was 

 continued in 1914, no great success was attained, as the rains prevented 

 extensive burning until the snow had disappeared, when this measure 

 would have been dangerous to standing timber. The destruction 

 of small wild animals appears to have aided in the considerable 

 decrease of infestation in the Victor district. During 1914 the carbon- 

 bisulphide pumps were used extensively for the destruction of ground 

 squirrels. The full complement of three concrete dipping vats, 

 placed from 8 to 10 miles apart in the southern half of the Bitter 

 Root Valley near the infected territory, was used during the season. 

 The total number of animals dipped, including sheep used in the grazing 

 experiments detailed below, was 2,615. Observations conducted 

 in the Victor district during the past four seasons have led to the 

 conclusion that the dipping of domestic animals alone is insufficient 

 for the eradication of the disease. Sheep grazing as a means of tick 



