September 15, 1898J 



NATURE 



469 



hesitatingly pronounce them to be formed by the larva; of 

 the Titiea vastella, Zell. = ^igantella, Stn. = liicidella, Wkr., 

 which is practically distributed over the whole of Africa and in 

 various districts of India ; the larvre were believed to feed only 

 on the horn of dead animals ; it had been asserted to feed on 

 that of living animals, but as the authority for this latter state- 

 ment was based on the evidence of one eye-witness and by hear- 

 say on the part of others, it was generally discredited, and by 

 some held to be absurd. 



" Dr. Fitzgibbon, as long ago as 1856, brought home from 

 Gambia two pairs of horns, one pair belonging to Kolus ellipsi- 

 pryvtnus, the other to Oreas canna, which he had purchased 

 from some natives in the market at Macarthy's Island, being 

 struck with their appearance, as they were perforated by grubs 

 enclosed in cases which projected abundantly from the surface 

 of the horns, although they were taken from freshly killed 

 animals, the blood not having thoroughly dried up on them 

 when brought to market. The larvte, evidently those of the 

 Tineidie, were found with the head outwards, indicating 

 probably that they had arrived at their full growth, and had 

 then turned round preparatory to final transformation." The 

 point of this proves that the horns were infested while the 

 animal was yet living which bore them. I have been unable 

 to find any corroboration of this in working through the 

 literature dealing with the subject. 



I find that in 1867, at a meeting of the Ent. Soc. of London, 

 " Mr. Stainton had to record a new habitat for the larva of a 

 Tinea ; Mr. Swanzy had shown him the larva case of a Tinea, 

 which was taken from the horn of a Kooloo from Natal, and 

 there would be little doubt that the larva must have been 

 burrowing in the horn of a living animal." " Mr. Swanzy 

 added that, since Mr. Stainton's visit, he had found a living 

 larva in the horn." 



"Prof. Zeller, in 1873, received ^om Herr Rogenhofer, of 

 Vienna, one male and two females, with two larvtt and one 

 pupa of a moth, the caterpillar of which lives in the horns of 

 buffaloes at the Cape, the specimens agreeing exactly with 

 Scardia vastella, Zell." In Prof. Zeller's opinion the larvas 

 fed on the dead horn, and he was in doubt as to the truth of 

 its feeding on that of the living animal. 



At a meeting of the Ent. Soc. of London, in 1878, Mr. 

 Stainton e.\hibited specimens of "new horn-feeding Tinea 

 {Tinea orientalis) reared from horns from Singapore, allied to 

 the species from South Africa, of which the larvre was asserted 

 to feed in the horns of living buffaloes and antelopes, and 

 which had been described by Zeller under the name of Vastella, 

 and subsequently by himself under the name of Gigantella"; 

 both names referring to the extraordinary size of the insect in 

 the genus Tinea. 



"Mr. Simmons, of Poplar, who found them in his green- 

 house, was quite at a loss to account for their appearance, till 

 Mr. Stainton suggested they were horn feeders, when he re- 

 membered a piece of horn placed on a shelf and forgotten, but 

 which when examined showed evident traces of having been 

 eaten, and from which pupa-skins had been obtained." 



We have, therefore, the strong evidence of Dr. Fitzgibbon 

 that the larvae feed on the living horn, and as the fibre of the 

 horn undergoes little or no change at death, there is no reason 

 why the moth should not deposit its eggs while the living 

 animal is at rest, nor why the larva; should not penetrate the 

 horn; notwithstanding, Lieut. -Colonel the Hon. Wennian Coke 

 and Mr. Roland Trimen were confident that the larvse did not 

 feed on the living horn, giving as their reason, that having shot 

 over many parts of Africa, haid this been the case it could not 

 have escaped their observation. Many naturalists and sports- 

 men have backed this opinion on the same grounds ; it is, 

 therefore, very gratifying that Mr. Strachan's letter places all 

 doubts on one side, and our thanks are due to him for clearing 

 up a matter which has been under judgment for nearly half a 

 century. W. H. McCorquodale. 



THE FUTURE OF VACCINATION, 

 T N certain quarters the impression seems to have gained 

 ■•■ ground that those who are antagonistic to systematic 

 vaccination have, as the result of recent proceedings in 

 Parliament, received fresh encouragement to persevere 

 in their resistance. No doubt " anti-vaccinators " have 

 claimed, and will continue to claim, that in the abolition 



NO. 1507, VOL. 58] 



of the compulsory clause they have justification for the 

 course they have pursued. It is just possible that even 

 some of those who believe in the good effects of vaccin- 

 ation as a protective measure against small-pox may be 

 persuaded to take the same view, and it behoves all who 

 have studied the question carefully to state the position 

 as it presents itself to them. 



In the first place, it must be evident that there is no 

 room in the discussion of this subject for the introduction 

 of political-party considerations. No doubt attempts will 

 be made, and, unfortunately, have been made, by those 

 who should know better, to drag this question through 

 party mire. Neither party can free itself froin this 

 reproach, and the result is that the Vaccination Bill has 

 not received the unbiassed consideration through which 

 alone it could be rendered thoroughly practical, work- 

 able, and successful. The spirit of the Bill and the 

 intention of its framers are excellent ; its drafting, as is 

 now seen, is exceedingly faulty. 



It was one of the great merits of the report of the 

 majority of the Royal Commissioners on Vaccination, 

 that it was eminently judicial, both in tone and in sub- 

 stance. With the evidence before them they came to 

 the conclusion that as to the prophylactic or protective 

 value of vaccination against small-pox there could not be 

 the slightest doubt. At the same time, they pointed out 

 that under certain conditions, and in an infinitesimally 

 small proportion of cases, there was a danger, although 

 in most cases an easily preventible danger, of evil results 

 accruing from the operation. In these circumstances, they 

 did not close their eyes to the fact that there must always 

 be a certain small section of people who would put the 

 claims of individual feeling before the public welfare, not 

 avowedly, of course, but rather on the very ground of the 

 public welfare ; and they indicated that in any future 

 legislation it would be well, under certain stringent con- 

 ditions, to allow this small minority to have its way, so 

 far, at any rate, as its own children are concerned. 



There can be little doubt that the Anti-Vaccination 

 League is now kept alive by those who have from time 

 to time been arraigned for not having their children 

 vaccinated according to the law, and that, posing as 

 martyrs, they have enlisted the sympathies of others who 

 have no objection at all to vaccination as vaccination, 

 but only as compulsory vaccination. The Commissioners at 

 once saw the desirability of removing such a power from 

 the hands of the anti-vaccinators, and suggested a most 

 rational way of doing so. Make the man who wishes to 

 become a martyr take some trouble, they say, and you 

 quench some of his ardour ; better still, do away with the 

 possibility of his becoming a martyr, and you remove the 

 sympathy and admiration on which so many of them have 

 subsisted, whilst you allow the man who has genuine con- 

 scientious objections to vaccination to place his personal 

 desires against the general welfare, but only at some con- 

 siderable personal inconvenience. In this way the false 

 would, in time, be weeded from the true, martyrs would 

 disappear, and the anti-vaccination crusade would die of 

 inanition. It must be acknowledged that, theoretically, 

 compulsory vaccination affords the best possible protection 

 yet known against small-pox epidemics, but in recent 

 years the law has been administered in so lax a fashion, 

 especially in certain towns and districts, that whole com- 

 munities have been left unprotected, and the Gloucester 

 and similar outbreaks have been the result. As this is 

 the case, is it not better to devote attention to seeing 

 that there is efficient and safe vaccination in those quarters 

 in which science is not met and foiled by prejudice, and, 

 where prejudice exists, to use every educational means to 

 remove it or render it as harmless as possible ? Medical 

 men who know the ravages that small-pox wrought 

 towards the end of the last and in the earlier part of the 

 present century, and who have knowledge of the protec- 

 tive value of vaccination, can scarcely put themselves in 



