Zoological Society. 143 



to a certain extent, exactly like those of the Tabanidee; how far the 

 attacks may be attended with tumours, similar to those produced by 



' the Simulium, and whether a tropical climate may not extend the 

 eifects of the attack, producing inflammatory action upon animals 

 perhaps never before in those latitudes, are questions which have yet 

 to be answered. One thing however appears to me evident, that the 

 Setse is no other than the Zimb of Bruce, (an insect respecting whose 

 real family and even existence so many doubts have been expressed,) 

 or at least that that insect is a larger species of Glossina, to whose 

 real habits Bruce has added those of a species of OEstrus. With the 

 view of establishing this assertion, as well as of clearing up what I 

 consider the inconsistencies of Bruce' s account, I shall beg to intro- 

 duce his description of the Zimb. 



"Nothing was more opposite than the manners and life of the 

 Cushite and of his carrier the shepherd. The mountains of the Cush- 

 ite and the cities he built afterwards were situated upon a loamy black 

 earth, so that, as soon as the tropical rains began to fall, a wonder- 

 ful phenomenon deprived him of his cattle. Large swarms of flies 

 appeared wherever that loamy earth was, which made him absolutely 

 dependent in this respect upon the shepherd ; but these affected the 

 shepherd also. This insect is called the Zimb * in modern or vulgar 

 Arabic ; it has not been described by any naturalist. It is in size 

 very little larger than a bee, of a thicker proportion, and the wings, 

 which are broader than those of a bee, are placed separate, like those 

 of a fly. They are of pure gauze, without colour or spot upon them ; 

 the head is large ; the upper jaw or lip is sharp, and has at the end 

 of it a strong pointed hair of about a quarter of an inch long ; the 

 lower jaw has two of these pointed hairs, and this pencil of hairs, 

 when joined together, makes a resistance to the finger nearl}^ equal 

 to that of a strong hog's bristle; its legs are serrated on the inside, 

 and the whole covered with brown hair or down. As soon as this 

 plague appears and its buzzing is heard, all the cattle forsake their 

 food and run wildly about the plain till they die, worn out with fa- 

 tigue, fright and hunger. No remedy remains but to leave the black 

 earth and to hasten down to the plains of Atbara, and there they re- 

 main whilst the rains last, this cruel enemy never daring to pursue 

 them farther. 



" What enables the shepherd to perform the long and toilsome 

 jouf neys across Africa is the camel, emphatically called by the Arabs 

 the ship of the desert. Though his size is immense, like his strength, 

 and his body covered with a thick skin defended with strong hair, yet 

 still is l\e not capable to sustain the violent punctures the fly makes 

 with his pointed proboscis. He must lose no time in removing to the 

 sands of Atbara, for when once attacked by this fly, his body, head 

 and legs swell out into large bosses, which break and putrefy to the 

 certain destruction of the creature. Even the elephant and rhino- 

 ceros, who, by reason of their enormous bulk and the vast quantity 



. of food and water they daily need, cannot shift to desert and dry 

 places as the season may require, are obliged to roll themselves in 

 * " See Appendix. It is the same name as Zebul in Hebrew. — E." 



