189 



infected to a sound monkey by Glossina longipcnnis kept in the 

 incubator at 25° C. (76° F.) apparently failed, and, although the 

 temperature of the experimental animals rose, no trypanosomes could 

 be found in the blood. 



Dr. J, H. Harvey Pirie completes the account of the inoculation 

 experiments reported above, but it was not possible to carry out 

 proper transmission experiments with laboratory bred fUes owing to 

 the difficulty of obtaining live pupae. A quantity collected at Kibwezi 

 failed to hatch. 



Low (Dr. R. Bruce). Report on the Progress and Diffusion of Plague 

 and Yellow Fever throughout the World during the two years 1911 

 and 1912.— 42nd Ann. Bepl. Local Govt.Bd. 1912-13; Supplement 

 containiyig the Report of the Medical Officer, London, 1914, 

 [Cd. 7181], Appendix A, no. 1, pp. 1-88 and no. 3, pp. 148-170. 



In the division of this report deahng with plague. Dr. Bruce Low 

 quotes Captain Justice, the Sanitary Commissioner, to the effect that 

 in the Madras Presidency plague is almost entirely confined to the 

 higher levels, which suggests that the cooler temperature of these levels 

 and the higher rat flea prevalence thereby favoured has something 

 to do with the existence of the disease. In Madras itself, which is 

 a hot place, rat fleas can nevertheless live for a considerable time in 

 the cooler months, as it is a known fact that in a cool atmosphere fleas 

 will live 10 times as long as in hot dry weather. In the Central 

 Provinces and Behar, the diminished activity of the infection during 

 the second half of the year 1912 is attributed to the comparatively 

 slight infestation of the local rats by fleas, the prolonged hot weather, 

 and the delayed monsoon having been unfavourable to the multi- 

 pHcation of fleas. In the Federated Malay States, at Kuala Lumpur, 

 between November 1911 and April 1912, 591 rats were examined 

 for plague ; 75 were found to be infected, of which 46 were taken in 

 in December 1911. Most of those caught w^ere Mus ratlus griseivenfer, 

 Bonhote, which is essentially a house rat, but the numbers of which 

 are kept down by the musk-shrew, which is common in the district. 

 Almost the only flea found on the local rats was Xenopsylla 

 cheopis, Roths. In Shanghai, a preventive measure of con- 

 siderable value was the provision of rat-proof house-refuse receptacles 

 on Chinese property. This resulted in a marked improvement in 

 cleanliness and the rats being deprived of one of their chief sources 

 of food ceased to infest the premises. 



In the report on yellow fever, it is stated that cases have been 

 brought to England and that in spite of all that has been done in 

 Central America to suppress Stegomyia fasciaia, the opening of the 

 Panama Canal may afford fresh opportunities for the spread of this 

 disease. In Rio de Janeiro, in 1913, cases of yellow fever occurred 

 in the suburbs and there was a great increase in the number of mos- 

 quitos infesting the houses, owing to the disorganisation of the anti- 

 mosquito brigade. 



Owing to an imported case of yellow fever at Honolulu, in October 

 1911, 150,000 banana trees w^ere cut down in the belief that Stegotnyia 

 breeds in the water which stands between the leaves and the stalk, 



