53 



resembles in certain cases the well-known disease, Oriental sore, but 

 in other phases it is sufficiently different to warrant its being regarded 

 as a separate disease. 



The malady is contracted by man in certain parts of the forest whicli 

 may not have been previously inhabited ; it is therefore endemic 

 in these parts, either in wild mammals or in insects. That the disease 

 is caused by leeches is regarded as impossible, since the majority of 

 the men affected had never experienced bites from leeches. Mites are 

 known to attack man, but there is no evidence in favour of the idea 

 that they can transmit the disease. Ticks of the genus Argas are rare 

 in Brazil ; other ticks, particularly Amhlyomma cayennense, are 

 common and attack any part of the body ; they are eliminated as 

 possible vectors of the disease since the localisation of the ulcers does 

 not correspond with the actual bite of the larval tick. For the same 

 reason bugs must be disregarded ; the species Cimex lectularius and 

 (J. hemipfera {rotundatns), moreover, are found more frequently in 

 towns than in the forest. 



Dipterous insects are far more open to sus|:)icion, especially certain 

 Tabanidae. Deer are usually parasitised by a small species of 

 Lipoptena (?) which may occasionally attack man ; these and other 

 similar flies are eliminated because they do not usually attack the 

 parts upon which ulcers are found. On the other hand, many species 

 of Tabanidae, which bite indiscriminately, live in forests and are 

 restricted to definite localities. Species of Stowoxys are not regarded 

 as possible vectors, since they are found frequently in open country, 

 where the disease is unknown. For the same reason Simulium cannot 

 be incriminated, its distribution being too general, as compared with 

 the definite localisation of the disease. Phlehotomus probably does not 

 act as a vector, as it is nocturnal, and it is evident that the transmitting 

 insect must be diurnal, since the disease is contracted by men who 

 only spend the day in the forest. It is possible that certain of the 

 CuLiciDAE may act as vectors ; but this cannot apply to those species 

 which appear in December, January and February, because the season 

 at which forest Leishmaniasis is prevalent is in May and June ; this 

 period corresponds exactly with the appearance of certain species of 

 Tabanidae. 



The authors are of the opinion that the Tabanidae are the most 

 likely of all the forest blood-sucking insects to be connected with the 

 transmission of the disease. Regarding the animals which act as a 

 reservoir for the virus, the dog seems to be the most liable to attack ; 

 but so far not much work has been done from this point of view. 

 An indication is given of the lines that future work on the subject will 

 take ; it will include the study of forest insects on the same lines as 

 above ; dissection of suspected insects to discover the organism, 

 if any, whicli causes the disease ; injections of suspected material, 

 such as the proboscis, salivary glands, etc., of possible insect vectors, 

 into dogs and other animals ; and the systematic study of the biology 

 of suspected insects. 



Metalnikoff (S.). De la Tuberculose chez les Insectes. [Tuberculosis 

 in Insects.] — C.R. Soc. Biol., Paris, Ixxvi, no. 2, 23rd Jan. 1914, 

 pp. 95-96. 



A few years ago the author pubHshed his work on tuberculosis in 



