63 
though  everywhere  the  authorities  and  also  a 
large  number  of  colleagues  gave  us  their  help. 
If  we  required  nearly  three  months  for 
this  expedition  it  must  be  taken  into  account 
that  we  covered  much  ground  (3.000  to  4.000 
kilometers),  while  nearly  one  month  was 
absorbed  by  the  necessary  journeys,  not 
counting  a  large  number  of  local  excursions. 
Diary. 
Follows  an  extract  from  the  diary  of 
Dr.  LUTZ: 
“We  left  Rio  in  the  small  stea¬ 
mer  “Itapacy”  at  4  p.  m.  of  August  3d, 
with  a  rather  rough  sea.  On  5  VIII  at  7  h. 
a.  m.  we  entered  the  port  of  Victoria,  where 
we  went  on  shore  for  an  excursion.  On  the 
rocks  we  found  numerous  Bromeliaceae 
containing  a  rich  fauna  and,  on  shore, 
several  interesting  plants.  Here  already 
there  appeared  a  Montrichardia,  large  araceous 
plant,  common  in  the  swamps  of  the  North. 
On  6  VIII  we  passed  the  Abrolhos 
reefs. 
7  VIII.  We  arrived  in  Ilheos,  where  the 
superintendent  of  the  Railway  accompanied  us 
on  a  motor  excursion  along  the  railway  line  to 
kilometer  20.  8  VIII.  We  made  another  ex¬ 
cursion  to  the  lake  of  Almada.  On  these  ex¬ 
cursions  we  collected  some  interesting  mol- 
lusks,  but  failed  to  find  Planorbis  olivaceus , 
described  by  SPIX  from  Ilheos  and  Almada, 
nor  could  we  obtain  reliable  information  as 
to  its  existence.  Later  researches,  made  by 
Mr.  ZEHNTNER,  also  failed  to  give  results> 
showing  that  in  the  last  century  this  con¬ 
spicuous  species  either  disappeared  or  at  least 
became  very  rare. 
The  fact  is  very  important,  because  it 
refers  to  the  largest  species  capable  of 
transmitting  Schistosomatosis.  No  other  Pla¬ 
norbis  was  found,  but  the  landscape  and 
the  flora  offered  much  interest.  Our  steamer 
left  at  6  p.  m. 
9.  VIII.  In  Bahia  we  stayed  only  four 
hours,  and  visited  some  colleagues.  After¬ 
wards  we  made  an  excursion  to  the  “dique”, 
a  large  pond  formed  by  an  old  dam,  where 
there  are  plenty  of  Montrichardia.  We  col¬ 
lected  numerous  specimens  of  Planorbis  oli¬ 
vaceus  and  received  some  more  from  Dr. 
OCTAVIO  TORRES,  but  none  of  them  were 
infected  by  Schistosomum  manso  ni,  though 
they  contained  some  other  trematodes.  The 
snails  were  mostly  adult,  30  mm.  of 
diameter,  which  points  to  an  age  of  at  least 
2  years. 
10  VIII.  In  the  afternoon  we  arrived  in 
Aracajú,  where  the  Itapacy  stayed  till  11  a.  m. 
of  the  following  day.  During  this  time  we 
visited  the  school  of  marine  apprentices  and 
made  the  necessary  arrangements  for  staying 
on  our  return.  We  collected  a  large  number 
of  Planorbis  olivaceus  but  failed  to  find 
infected  specimens. 
11  VIII.  We  spent  the  night  near  to  the 
mouth  of  the  São  Francisco  river,  up  which  we 
ran  the  next  day,  stopping  at  the  “llha 
das  Gallinhas”.  We  found  the  river  and  its 
banks  prettier  than  they  are  higher  up, 
near  Joazeiro.  On  an  excursion  by  canoe, 
we  visited  two  islands  with  an  interesting 
flora  and  observed  flocks  of  a  species  ot 
goat-sucker.  There  were  no  fresh  water  mol- 
lusks. 
12  VIII.  Towards  the  evening  we  pas¬ 
sed  the  dangerous  bar  of  the  São  Francisco 
river  again;  the  surf  offered  a  beautiful 
sight. 
13  VIII.  We  arrived  in  Maceió  and 
went  to  Bebedouro,  where  we  failed  to  find 
Planorbis  olivaceus ,  which  apparently  does 
not  exist  in  these  parts.  In  the  house 
of  Dr.  LUIZ  VASCONCELLOS  we  saw 
several  chickens  suffering  from  an  infectious 
disease,  with  leucocytosis  but  apparently 
without  spirillae.  Perhaps  it  might  be  acute 
leucemia.  We  visited  the  hospital  at  Maceió 
and  saw  a  patient  whose  bloody  and 
mucous  dejections  contained  a  large  number 
of  eggs  of  Schistosomum  mansoni. 
14  VIII  We  arrived  early  in  Recife  and 
were  met  by  the  chief  of  the  school  of  ma¬ 
rine  apprentices  ;  here  we  established  a  labo¬ 
ratory.  Afterwards  we  visited  the  governor, 
the  prefect  and  the  director  of  the  sanitary 
service;  all  of  them  received  us  very  well 
and  helped  us  to  arrange  the  necessary  ex- 
