KNOWI I ix.l 



January. 191; 



Diiisal surface 



KAIM AM. AND I'lMIMSIS. 

 — A rrsi-aiili ri>ii(liK'li->l l>y I'l. 

 William (tordnn, pliysicinii In tlic 

 Koval I)«-voii aiicl l-!xfliT lln^pilal. 

 has li'd tlic author (n some inter 

 ostiiiK Mint iiniMirlant coiic-liisiiiii'' 

 with rrKard to the infliieiuc of rain- 

 bearing winds upon ihi- prcvalriiiT 

 of phthisis. Takiii)^ certain Kiiral 

 Sanitary Districts in Drvonsliiri'. h^ 

 classified the parislies comprised in 

 the si'veral areas according to theii 

 exposure to the \V. and S.W. winds, 

 which are in Devonshire the rainv 

 winds, into I. slu-ltered parishes, II. 

 cxiHised parishes, ,ind III, imper 

 fcctly sheltered parishes, and then 

 rarefnlly collated the deaths from 

 phthisis in these parishes during •! 

 scries of years. 



To his (jrcat surprise he fomid 

 that the death-rale in the parishes 

 exposed to W. and S.W. winds was 

 Kenerally double, sometimes more than 

 double, that in the parishes sheltered 

 from those winds, and this irrespective of 

 the atiioutit of the rainfall in the variou> 

 places. Thus, of two contiguous parishes 

 with a hill between them the parish on 

 the windward side of the hill was found 

 to have twice as many deaths from 

 phthisis, per thousand of the population, 

 as that on the side sheltered from the 

 S. and S.W.. but exposed to the N. and 

 E., and this although the amount of the 

 rainfall on the leeward side of the hill was 

 in many cases greater than that on the 

 windward side. 



The areas selected were situate, two in 

 the northern part of the county and two 

 in the southern part, and the results were 

 so consistent as to justify further inquiry. 

 This further inquiry was conducted both 

 in detail and on a broad scale, and 

 the results arrived at fully confirmed 

 those first reached. In the wide 

 inquiry the various counties were 

 taken as units, and subsequently 

 larger areas still ; in the detailed 

 incjuiry the Citj^ of Exeter was 

 taken, street by street, and both 

 lines of research led to the same 

 result, namely, that the important 

 point to consider in the choice of 

 a residence for persons suffering 

 from phthisis is the incidence of 

 the rain-bearing winds of the locality, exposure 

 to which is a more serious factor than the 

 altitude of the place, the character of its soil, 

 or even tlic amoimt of its rainf.ill. 



MK ko.SCoi'W 



Ky (). 15. Ji;ciivi;, 



FiGiKi- 42. 



X 44, sliowing the 



processes. 



Figure 43. 



Side view of Palpus. X 120. Inside, 



showing the two teeth . Drawn from 



a male specimen. Male and female 



alike. 



FiGlKK 44. 

 ;>f fourth leg. 



Figure 45. 



Method nf carrying palpi in front. Drawn from 

 the front of an unmounted specimen. X ir>0. 



AN INTKKKSTINC, ICAUTM MITE f.N- 



ui:c<)kdi:d in <;keat hkitain.— on.- 



Summer day in 190'^ 1 was .seeking in my gar- 

 den for some fresh mites or spring-tails, and 

 so on, when I saw on the stone steps leading 



FiGURi-: 46. 

 Posterior margin ventral 

 surf.-ice of male, show ing 

 the comb-like arrange- 

 ment of bristles, X (.4. 



h^iythiicanis parictiiiiis 

 Ilerm. 



up to the house, a mile (Figure 42) 

 moving at a very rapid pace, and 

 progressing in ipiile an unusual 

 manner. It was advancing in a 

 /ig2ag manner, but in the form nf 

 curves, each curve being about five 

 to six inches long, and advancing 

 about one to two inches at a time. 

 Sometimes it would make a wider 

 sweep of about half a circle, and 

 occasionally, when apparently it 

 came across an active prey, it 

 would whirl round in small con- 

 centric circles with such velocity 

 as to envelop and secure if. and 

 sometimes it would stop so sud- 

 denly that the eye was carried on 

 and for the moment lost the mit<'. 



.As an instance of the ferocity 

 of this mite. I saw a Spring-tail. I 

 ike believe a Degecria, several times 

 the size of the mite, resting on a 

 window-sill. The mite was advancing in 

 its usual zig-zag manner towards it, but 

 not seeing the spring-tail until within six 

 or eight inches from it : then the mite 

 rushed at the springt.iil. I'or a moment 

 the turmoil was something to see, but it 

 ceased as suddenly as it had begun, the 

 mite was alone, the spring-tail having 

 escaped with a motion too rapid for the 

 eye to notice. Ha\ing moved in March. 

 1910, to another part of Plymouth, I was 

 afraid I had lo.st my little visitors, especi- 

 ;illy as I did not find them at the old home, 

 which I occasionally visited for that 

 purpose : no doubt it was mainly owing 

 to the inclement year, but to my delight 

 in the early summer of this year (19111 1 

 found them busy on my window-sill, and 

 again on a low wall underneath m>' 

 window. .Apparently they nested in the 

 border boll - Hower iCaiiipaiiiila car- 

 paticiiK which I had sent up to my 

 new abode, a singular coincidence 

 th.at this mite living amongst hun- 

 dreds of blue bells, should be fur- 

 nished with ears. 



I found on placing the mite under 

 a low power. X 35. that it was a 

 dark orange-red mite with brown 

 markings, but with two perfectly 

 white ear-like processes lin shape 

 triangular), situated immediately 

 behind the eyes. Then putting it 

 under X 200 I saw a beautiful comb- 

 like arrangement under and across the end of 

 the abdomen, and projecting beyond it. This I 

 found afterwards to be the male. The female is 

 in all respects like the male, except it is without 

 the comb-like process shown in Figure 46. 



I h.ive always found it active, .seeking its food 

 on stone, .and never on flowers, tiower bed, or 

 gr.iss adjoining. I have also found them on 

 my bedroom window-sill, about twenty feet 

 from the ground, where a p.air had taken up 

 their abode between the wood and stone-work, so 

 1 hope next summer to have a further and better 

 opportunity of studying them. The front of the 

 house over which they travelled is built of stone. 

 It is apparently Erythactinis pdrictiiiiis. 

 Horm.. but neither Hermann's figure KS04. nor 

 Koch's 1835-41, nor Herlese's. h.ive the ears 

 which is such a beautiful and distinct ch.aracter in 

 tliis mite, so it would appear to be: — .As Erytha- 

 earns parictiiiiis with ears. Super family. 



