51 



suggested that an electric fan would probably give the best result 

 in this respect. Blankets and clothing should not be folded or pressed 

 closely together during treatment, and should not be allowed to come 

 within a foot of the floor, for both lice and their eggs were able to 

 survive during the above experiments both on and within a few inches 

 of the concrete floor. The garments after treatment should therefore 

 never be thrown on the floors, even though these have been regularly 

 washed, as they should be, with a 2 per cent, solution of cresol soap 

 emulsion or lysol, or sprinkled with powdered naphthaline before each 

 day's work. 



Suggestions accompanied by plans are given for an improved 

 pattern of hot-air hut. 



Leboeup (A.) & Gambter (A.). La Spirochetose humaine et 1' Omi- 

 thodorus moubata dans la Colonie du Moyen-Congo. [Human 

 Spirochaetosis and Ornithodorus moubata in the Middle Congo 

 Colonv.] — Bull. Soc. Path. Exot., Paris, xi, no. 10, 11th December, 

 1918. pp. 833-836. 



In consequence of the discovery of two cases of human spirochaetosis 

 at Brazzaville, in the Middle-Congo [see this Review, Ser. B, vi, p. 158], 

 further observations have been conducted in this region, with the 

 result that Ornitliodorus moubata has been found to occur in practically 

 all the villages of the region and particularly in all the settlements 

 along the route from Brazzaville to Pangala. All the huts in a given 

 settlement were not found to be infested, but chiefly those that are 

 badly kept and dirty, especially the rest-houses where travellers 

 stop for the night. According to reports from various quarters, the 

 tick must be well distributed throughout the south of the Middle 

 Congo, and this is confirmed by the occurrence of spirochaetosis in 

 natives arriving from distant and widely separated villages. While 

 in the villages visited spirochaetosis has never been observed except 

 where 0. moubata occurs, the tick is undoubtedly present in villages 

 where no case of spirochaetosis has been detected by examination of 

 the inhabitants. The authors are convinced, however, that wherever 

 the tick occurs there are bound to be cases of spirochaetosis occurring 

 with more or less frequency and dependent probably on seasonal or 

 other conditions. 



Experiments to determine the resistance of 0. moubata have shown 

 that the tick can live without nourishment for as long as four months. 

 Solutions of iron and copper sulphate seemed to have no effect upon 

 ticks in a closed vessel, but a solution of carbolic acid (30 per cent.) 

 was found to kill all the individuals placed in a vessel containing it. 

 This substance might therefore be employed for their destruction, 

 but its use would be very limited. The best remedial measure, apart 

 from general cleanliness, seems to be thorough and repeated turning 

 over of the earthen floors of the huts after thoroughly sprinkling 

 them. The inhabitants should sleep on couches raised at least 20 

 inches from the ground. Above all, if light were let into the huts, 

 the ticks would avoid them, but it is scarcely to be hoped that the 

 natives of this part of Africa could be persuaded to efiect such an 

 innovation. 



