112 



may be considered as an extreme western prolongation of the G. 

 morsitans savannah of the Upper Gambia. After passing the salt 

 swamps, G. morsitans becomes rarer and often gives place to G. palpalis. 

 The physical characteristics of the haunts of both species are shown 

 in a table ; the relative humidity of the atmosphere in the localities 

 where G. morsitans was found varied from 28 to 50 per cent., as com- 

 pared with 70 per cent, where G. palpalis occurred. No human 

 trypanosomiasis has been found in the Lower Salum. As in the Upper 

 Gambia, the presence of G. morsitans is immediately seen in Niom-Bato 

 in the almost complete absence of domestic animals ; no dogs, horses, 

 asses, sheep or large-sized cattle are to be met in the infested zone. 

 In the villages outside, but within 12 miles of it, dogs and horses are 

 found, but their wanderings expose them to attack and the mortality 

 amongst them is heavy. As in the Upper Gambia, the natives are 

 ignorant of the deadly effect of the fly. They attribute the animal 

 mortality to a particular grass. In the whole fly zone the only 

 domestic animals found are goats, which do not leave the villages, 

 and the Uttle Fouta oxen which graze constantly amongst the Glossina, 

 as they also do in the Malinke country in the Upper Gambia. In 

 Niom-Bato, they are not, however, used as beasts of burden as they 

 are in Upper Gambia. T. dimorjuhon was found in three of the thirty 

 oxen at Messira. Out of a total of fifteen flies captured at Messira 

 and Kumbeng, three showed an infection typical of T. dimorphon. 

 Eighty flies, captured at hazard, in Niom were fed on a clean goat, 

 which became infected with T. cazalboui. T. pecaudi was not found, 

 but it is doubtless present. The development of the Niom-Bato 

 district is badly hampered by the presence of G. morsitans. From an 

 economic standpoint, it w^ould be most desirable that systematic 

 measures be taken against the fly. The fly- belts of Niom are but a 

 vestige of those formerly existing in the whole savannah bordering 

 the Gambia ; they would disappear completely after clearing is 

 practised and the big game is destroyed, as they have already done 

 in districts along the rivers in the mid portion of the Gambia. 



Public Stable in Panama. — Canal Record, Balboa, viii, no. 32, 31st March 

 1915, pp. 288-289. 



The death-rate in the city of Panama, especially that of children, 

 is believed to be considerably increased by the transmission of disease 

 by flies, and instructions have now been issued for the construction by 

 the Panama Railroad of a public stable .of 250 stalls for the accom- 

 modation of animals now housed in various private stables in the city. 

 It has also been pointed out that the present stables are prolific 

 breeding places for rats, the principal carriers of plague. 



Rothschild (Hon. N. C.). A Synopsis of the British Siphonaptera. — 



Entom. Mthly. Mag., London, li, no. 610, March 1915, pp. 49-112^ 

 8 plates. 



A synopsis of the British Siphonaptera is given, with a view to 

 furnishing ready means of identification of all fleas so far recorded 

 from the British Isles. Brief descriptions of the characters likely to- 

 prove of value for identification are given, with the chief hosts of each 

 species. Instructions for collecting and preserving fleas are added. 



