139 



flies were brought in, mostly G. brevipalpis, but including G. pallidipes 

 and G. tarhinoidnn* the latter being the scarcest. The flies were 

 transferred on arrival to smaller glasses, containing 5 or 10 individuals. 

 The females were kept exclusively for breeding, four being aUotted 

 to one male. On every third or fourth day the flies must be allowed 

 to suck blood, and for this purpose the jars were turned upside down, 

 ^nth the mosquito-gauze cover in contact with the shaven skin of a 

 warm-blooded animal. Goats and sheep are preferable to white rats. 

 The latter imist be laid on their backs on a board to which their limbs 

 are secured, and only a few flies can be fed on one rat, as the animal 

 suffers from the process. Six to nine jars may be placed on one goat 

 or sheep. These animals are bound and thrown for the purpose. 

 In numerous cases fhes absorbed large munbcrs of trypanosomes 

 wnthout becoming infective. When, however, flies, after being fed on 

 liighly infected rats, were kept in a breeding cupboard at a tempera- 

 ture of 86^ to 99° Fahr., and in an atmosphere saturated with moisture, 

 the parasites increased in them and they became infective. The mere 

 sucking of infected blood is thus not the only factor to be considered. 

 The author thinks that it would be correct to say that afl species 

 of Ghs-'^rna are capable of transmitting all species of trypanosomes, 

 pro\nded suitable conditions be pre:»ent. The paper concludes with 

 a bibliography of nine works. 



Stordy[ E. G.). East Coast Fever in British E. Ainc3i.—.lnn. Rept. 

 Dept. Agric. Br. E. Africa for 1912-1913, London, 1911, pp. 24-28. 



In the course of his report on the Veterinary Department, the author 

 says that East Coast fever is still very prevalent in the Nairobi and 

 Kyambu Districts and parts of Machakos and Kitui ; an outbreak 

 occurred in the Nandi Reserve, and a few cases have been recorded 

 from Lumbwa, N'joro, Uasin Gishu, [lavine, 8otik and tlie Kedong 

 Valley. A death occurred in the township of Nakuru, which necessi- 

 tated putting the place in quarantine and preventing an exhibition 

 of cattle. The author says that the imposition of quarantine has 

 proved a matter of great controversy, but there can be no doubt that 

 it has to a large extent afforded a means of controlhng this prevalent 

 disease. However, the farming community within the infected area 

 has by repeated agitation had the measure so modified, particularly 

 in regard to the movement of stock, that the number of outbreaks 

 has increased. It is pointed out that there are large areas within 

 the infected districts of Nairobi and Kyambu eminently suited for 

 dairy farming, but that nothing can be done so long as East Coast 

 fever is rife, and all the efforts of the Veterinary Department have 

 met with little else than condemnatory criticism from the majority 

 of farmers. Farmers in the Rift Valley and the country adjacent 

 to it held that, for some reason or another which they could not 

 explain, the ticks responsible for the transmission of East Coast fever 

 could not exist for any length of time in the Rift, and this argument was 



* [There is no reliable evidence as to the occurrence of G. tachinoides in 

 German E. Africa, and it is in the highest degree probable that the species 

 here recorded under that name is really O. austeni, Newst. — Ed.] 



