166 



Messina earthquake in 1908, when it was popularly called " the 

 fever of the rubbish." 



Captain Houston dealt with sand-fly fever in Peshawar, where the 

 commonest species is P. papatasii. 



Gkaham-Smith (G. S.). Flies in Relation to Disease : Non-bloodsuck- 

 ing. — Cambridge: At the Univ. Press, 1914, 2nd. Edit, xvi-f 389 pp., 

 32 figs., 27 pis. & 20 charts. 8vo. Price 12/6. 



The second edition of this work has been increased in size by the 

 addition of an appendix of 99 pages with three plates and a number 

 of charts [see this Review, Ser. B, ii, pp. 19, 20]. A series of observa- 

 tions on the effect of the food of the larva upon the size of the 

 adult blow-fly, is given, and the length of the thorax was 

 found to vary between a maximum of 5 "5 mm. and a minimum of 

 3 "99. Some additional data are given as to the range of flight of flies 

 and as to changes in their habits and hibernation. A large amount of 

 carefully arranged information as to the relation of summer diarrhoea 

 to meteorological conditions and especially to the possible carriage 

 of the disease by flies, has been added, with a number of charts 

 showing the relations between bright sunshine, soil temperatures 

 and deaths from summer diarrhoea in Birmingham, Manchester 

 and Cambridge. It is suggested that there is a somewhat 

 remarkable connection between the diarrhoea death curve and 

 the prevalence of bright sunshine, which, though inimical to disease- 

 producing organisms, increases the activities of flies. Additional 

 information is given as to cholera and other diseases in this connection. 

 Attention is drawn to the importance of non-biting flies in the spread 

 of diseases, inasmuch as manv flies incapable of sucking blood are in 

 the habit of feeding upon blood drawn for them from animals by 

 biting species. Several pages are devoted to additional information 

 on myiasis and recent work on the various enemies of flies in the several 

 stages of their existence. 



Horse Bots in Russia.— « CM5MpcKoe CeJlbCKOe Xo3flilCTBO. » [Agricul- 

 ture of Siberia,] Tomsk, no. 11, July 1914, p. 326. 



To protect horses from the attacks of Gastrophilus cqui during the 

 summer months they should be kept under cover in the middle of the 

 day and the neck, breast and fore legs should be frequently brushed, so 

 as to remove the eggs. In the case of horses which must remain in the 

 fields, the neck, breast and fore legs should be smeared with a mixture 

 of soap and kerosene ; as this mixture dries quickly in the sun, it must 

 be frequently renewed. 



Horses are also attacked by the so-called " redtail gadfly," Gastro- 

 philus haemorrkoidalis, the larvae of which live only in the rectum, 

 and though not considered so dangerous as those of G. eqiii, cause 

 considerable suffering to the animals. This species oviposits in 

 summer near the root of the tail ; the larvae enter the rectum through 

 the anus, where they live for some months, moult and pass out with 

 the dung, and then pupate. An injection of hemp-seed oil is recom- 

 mended as a remedy. 



