77 



BoNET (G.)- Les Trypanosomiases et le Gros Gibier en Afrique occi- 

 dentale f rancaise. [Trypanosomiasis and big game in French West 

 Africa.] — Bull. Soc. Nat. Acclimat., Paris, Ix, no. 24, 15th Dec. 

 1913, pp. 761-770. 



After summarising the results of the work done by Bruce, Fraser 

 and Duke, and Kinghorn and Yorke on trypanosomes in man and 

 animals in South Africa, Uganda and Rhodesia, the author gives an 

 account of similar work done by himself and Roubaud in French West 

 Africa. About thirty dilferent kinds of wild animals were examined 

 for trypanosomes or their blood used for inoculations, and their dis- 

 tribution in relation to that of the tsetse-fly was observed. The 

 blood of eight examples of Cobus kob was inoculated into sheep or 

 goats without effect ; this species and the related C. unctuosus or 

 defassa are found in the bush bordering rivers where the tsetse is 

 abundant. Bubalis major and Damaliscus senegahnsis are found also in 

 the tsetse-fly regions ; the blood of the former, which hves in Glossina 

 morsitans areas, was used for inoculation into a goat without result. 

 The dwarf bulfalo, Bubalus pionilus or brachijceros, is always followed 

 by G. morsitans and less frequently by G. longipalpis. Oreas der- 

 byianus, in company with numerous elephants, occurs in a district 

 where G. morsitans is so abundant that no domestic animals except 

 a race of dwarf cattle are able to hve. The only positive result obtained 

 by subinoculation was in the case of a bushbuck, Trafjelaphus scriptus, 

 the blood of which infected a sheep with T. dimorphon. A similar 

 experiment with two reed buck was a failure. Two species of 

 duyker, Cephalophus nigrifrons and C. dorsalis, reared in captivity, 

 were infected with T. cazalboni, T. dimorphon and T. pecaudi by means 

 of G. longipalpis ; the animals exhibited no ill effects. In the same 

 way a young Tragelaphus script u^ was infected with T. dimorphon ; 

 a year later the animal, although showing trypanosomes in the blood, 

 was in perfect health. It thus seems that antelopes are very easily 

 infected with trypanosomes, from which they suffer no detrimental 

 effect. Elephants and hippopotami are common in French West 

 Africa, and are frequently found associated with tsetse-flies, and in 

 some cases the blood of the hippopotamus seems to be the sole source 

 of food of G. longipalpis. It is concluded that the main food supply 

 of Glossina is the big game and that the trypanosomes with which 

 they are infected are derived from this source. 



Without advocating a wholesale destruction of the big game in 

 these regions, the author suggests that good results would follow if the 

 hunting regulations were made less strict and that instead of forbidding 

 the natives to hunt, they should be encouraged to do so. 



Perrier (E.). Le gros gibier ; les mouches piquantes et les maladies 4 

 trypanosomes. [Big game ; blood-sucking flies and trypanoso- 

 miasis.] — Bidl. Soc. Nat. Acclimat., Paris, Ix, no. 24, 15th Dec. 

 1913, pp. 771-773. 



The present paper sums up the case against the destruction of big 

 game in Africa, as a means of stamping out trypanosomiasis. The 

 points upon which the author lays special stress are (1) the flies carry- 

 ing the disease at present would in no way be diminished in numbers 



