35 



province of China. It consists of two pieces of bamboo, one inside 

 the other. The onter bamboo is about 1 foot in length and 2i inches 

 in diameter and is fenestrated by long slits running parallel to its 

 length. The inner bamboo is of equal length but only about 1 inch, 

 in diameter, and is kept in position within the former by means of a 

 short wooden plug, which has previously been coated with bird lime. 

 The function oi the outer bamboo is to prevent the sticky substance 

 from coming in contact with surrounding objects. The trap is placed 

 under bed-clothes, or amongst rugs, etc., and any fleas that get on to 

 the surface of the inner bamboo at once stick to the bird-lime. The 

 apparatus is very simple and might be used wnth advantage during 

 plague epidemics, in order to catch fleas, rat or human, within houses. 

 Considering the importance of the rat-flea in the transmission of plague, 

 the employment of a simple and effective flea-trap, such as this, would 

 probably have a decided effect on the spread of the disease. 



Disease of Horses in Berbice.- -Jr/y/r. News, Barbados. — 25th Oct. 

 1913, p. 345. 



Attention is drawn to the fatal disease of horses which appears to be 

 spreading at Berbice. The Demerara '" Daily Argosy,"' 1st Oct. 1913, 

 states that Dr. Minett has diagnosed it as '" mal de caderas." a very 

 deadly and well known South American disease caused by Trypanosoma 

 equina and sometimes fatal in three or four weeks. There is some 

 indication of its being carried by the stable fly {Stomoxys calcilrans) 

 which has been observed in Barbados and occurs in vSt. Vincent, 

 Antigua, Montserrat, and Jamaica. The Veterinary Officer of the 

 Imp. Dept. of Agriculture in Barbados points out the risk involved 

 by the introduction of Venezuelan horses into Trinidad, Barbados 

 and elsewhere. Surra disease has been said to occur in Barbados, but 

 owing to the similarity of the symptoms it is possible that the cases 

 were really " mal de caderas." Only indefinite knowledge seems to 

 exist in regard to the transmission of this disease, so that further 

 investigation is very necessary. The Demerara "' Daily Argosy " 

 (r2tli Oct. 1913) reports that a resolution was passed at a meeting 

 of the Town Council directing a special inspection of every stable by 

 the Health Department, with the object of advising owners regarding 

 immediate precautionary measures. 



Stannus (Hugh >S.). Pellagra in Nyasaland. Second Paper. Trans. 

 Soc. Trap. Med. c£- Hyy. vii, no. 1, Nov. 1913, pp. 32-56. 



The author read a paper before the Society in December 1911 on 

 pellagra in Nyasaland, and pointed out that with the exception of 

 Egypt and Robben Island the disease had not been before described 

 as occurring in Africa. The present paper consists of a series of 

 detailed observations on cases occuri'ing in the Zomba district and 

 especially in the prison at Zomba. Tlie author says that in his first 

 paper he was only able to state that Simuliidae were present in 

 Zomba. In January 1913, with the assistance of Mr. E. Ballard, 

 Entomologist to the Agricultural Department, the streams of the 

 Zomba township were investigated and every stream was found to 

 harbour SimuJiuiti larvae and pupae. The numbers were roughly 

 (C14 B 2 



