204 



NATURE 



[December 14, 191 1 



'divine kings" and "dying gods." Victory in the 

 race meant reigning for a term of years as an embodi- 

 ment of the sun. Defeat at the end, a mark of senile 

 dfcay, meant the death of the old, and the ascension 

 of the new, god-man. 



One may doubt whether early thought so welded 

 toK'i'ther in actual practice the notions of god, king, 

 priest, and man ; but the ideas were a mixture, if 

 not a compound. 



The new matter thus, by emphasising the form of 

 i!ie inquiry, considerably increases its value, if we 

 accept its form. This is the artistic side of the book, 

 5>uch as every scientific theory must possess. 



The new edition of "The Golden Bough" is 

 addressed to a new generation which has succeeded to 

 the soul of a former generation impregnated with the 

 teaching of the earlier editions. Its influence is cer- 

 tain to be proportionally cumulative and far-reaching. 



A. E. Crawley. 



THE SCOURGE OF TROPICAL AFRICA. 

 A Handbook of the Tsetse-flies [Genus Glossina]. By 

 E. E. Austen. Pp. x+iio + x plates. (London: 

 Printed by order of the Trustees of the British 

 Museum. Sold by Longmans and Co., B. Quaritch, 

 Dulau and Co., Ltd., and at the British Museum 

 (Natural History), 191 1.) Price 55. 6d. 



THE increasing attention which has been paid dur- 

 ing the last few years to the collection and 

 observation of tsetse-flies (Glossina) has led to the 

 discovery of so many new species that the exhaustive 

 monograph of this genus, published by Mr. E. E. 

 .\usten eight years ago, is now much out of date. 

 The concise revision of the species by the same author 

 now issued by the Trustees of the British Museum 

 will therefore be most welcome to all who are con- 

 cerned with the study of these formidable pests. In 

 the original monograph only seven species were do- 

 scribed, whereas now no fewer than fifteen are 

 enumerated (excluding Glossina maculata, Newst., 

 and G. submorsitans, Newst., to which the author 

 does not accord specific rank), and two of these are 

 described for the first time. 



As a result of his examination of the male genital 

 armature of all the known species, except G, maculata, 

 Newst., and G. fuscipleuris, Aust., Prof. R. Newstead 

 has shown that these structures present three markedly 

 different types, which appear to afford a useful indica- 

 tion as to the mutual interrelationships of the species, 

 especially as they coincide with the more important 

 external distinctions. These sections he called respec- 

 tively the palpalis-gr oup, the morsitans-group, and the 

 fusca-group. Mr. Austen has departed from this 

 arrangement by dividing the last-named group into 

 two, the only constant character given for separating 

 these divisions being a difference in the tint of the 

 wings. Wing-colour, however, has clearly no value as 

 a group-character in this genus, and the proposed sub- 

 division is open to the serious objection that it obscures 

 the existence of important structural affinities, without 

 any compensating advantage,. 



Apart from this, the synoptic tables for the deter- 

 mination of the groups and the species leave little to be 

 NO. 2198, VOL. 88] 



desired. The preparation of a really accurate and 

 workable key for a genus which presents but few 

 salient and stable specific characters is by no means 

 so simple a matter as it may appear, but with these 

 tables any intelligent field worker should be able to 

 determine his species without much difficulty. 



Each species is fully dealt with under the following 

 headings: — description, distribution, bionomics, and 

 affinities and distinctive characters. The information 

 given with regard to habits and life-histories indicates 

 how very little we yet know of the bionomics of these 

 insects, except in the case of two or three species. 

 The puparia of six different species are now known, 

 and these have all been figured (pp. 5 and 7). It is 

 interesting to note that these structures exhibit dis- 

 tinctive specific characters, so that the discovery of 

 even empty puparia may serve to throw some light 

 upon the breeding habits of the various sf>ecies. 



From the point of view of a field worker this excel- 

 lent handbook has only one drawback, namely, that 

 no information whatever is given concerning the 

 bionomics of the most important species, G. palpalis, 

 the carrier of sleeping sickness; the reason adduced 

 being lack of space. In these circumstances much of 

 the unduly elaborate and highly technical description 

 of the generic characters might well have been 

 eliminated, while several pages have been wasted by 

 the needless repetition of the synoptic tables. 



The genus Glossina appears to attain its maximum 

 development in the humid region of equatorial West 

 Africa. From Southern Nigeria no fewer than nine 

 different species have already been recorded, the Gold 

 Coast coming next with eight. From Northern Nigeria 

 five species are known, the remaining British colonies' 

 each having only four or less. 



We may reasonably assume that all these insects] 

 are potentially capable of conveying serious diseases to' 

 men or domesticated animals, yet it must be admitted J 

 that so far no method has been devised for compassing 

 their destruction in an effective manner. It is true 

 that in certain places the clearing of forests has cai 

 tsetses to withdraw, but this is a measure whicl. 

 capable of only limited application, and might c 

 defeat its object if done on too large a scale. .A~ 

 rule, insect pests are most easily destroyed dur' 

 the larval stage, but such a course is rendered im; 

 sible in the case of Glossina owing to the fact t" 

 the larva completes its development in the body 

 the mother. Thus we have to undertake the m 

 more difficult task of destroying the perfect in«- 

 and it is to be regretted that no serious atten 

 appear to have been made in the British color 

 to test the method of trapping the flies with b 

 lime, which has been attended with considerable - 

 cess in the Portuguese island of Principe. 



The remedial measure most generally suggeste*; 

 to cut off the food supply of the insects by killint: 

 the larger mammals. But advocates of this coi 

 are apt to forget that unless the flies are absolir 

 dependent for their existence upon these large ma 

 mals only, the remedy cannot be really effective. The 

 writer has had occasion recently to examine a num^'"' 

 of reports bearing upon this question, and the si 

 ments made are often highly conflicting; but sti:i. 



