140 



It is clear that the entire question needs to be studied fully in other 

 localities, and we have thought it worth while to reproduce Dr. 

 Shircore's proposals above, since the observations that might be made 

 in G. morsitans belts elsewhere, whether they proved to support his 

 method or otherwise, could not fail to be of the greatest interest. 



We give below a summary of the " Preventive Measures " against 

 Sleeping Sickness disseminated by G. morsitans, which were introduced 

 some years ago in Nyasaland, under the supervision of Dr. H. Hearsey, 

 Principal Medical Officer, and Dr. Conran. 1 



"1. Impressing upon the natives the necessity of avoiding being 

 bitten by flies. 



" 2. Clearing for a distance of 300 yards or more round villages 

 situated in close proximity to fly. Extending these clearings in many 

 instances so as to embrace their food gardens also. 



" 3. Making clearings on each side of roads and main paths leading 

 from one village to another, thus uniting groups of villages and enabling 

 the natives to journey from one to another with commensurate safety. 



"4. .Instructing the natives to use this felled timber for firewood, 

 and to avoid visiting the adjacent fly-infested woods for this purpose. 



" 5. Instituting public latrines in all the villages, to prevent natives 

 from visiting the adjoining woods for the purpose of defaecation, 



" Prohibition as to the firing of grass till the month of October, when 

 only it is fit for burning, so as to ensure as large and as effectively 

 cleared areas as possible. 



" Removal, whenever feasible, of villages situated in danger zones > 

 to fly-free areas." 



In a paper (84) published in 1916 Dr. Lamborn records some 

 observations on the effect of bush fires on the distribution of G. 

 morsitans in certain districts in the proclaimed area of Nyasaland. A 

 marked decrease in numbers was noted in the burnt area, but pupae 

 sufficient to repopulate the latter were found under logs untouched by 

 the fires. Flies were abundant in a neighbouring district, and this 

 abundance was undoubtedly the result of the fire and the driving away 

 of the game. " The flames/' writes Dr. Lamborn, " are not to any 

 extent instrumental in burning up the dead trees which form so large 

 a proportion of the breeding places, the fact being that the fires are too 

 fleeting as a rule to do more than just char most of the logs, which are 

 also protected by dust and by earthy deposits of termites. 



" Systematic burning of the grass is not, in my opinion, likely to be 

 of value for controlling the fly, because over much of the fly country 

 the grass is patchy, so that the fires fail to spread, and in some regions 

 it will not burn till late on in the dry season, when the fly is able to find 

 refuge in areas burnt long before. 



" Where the fires have been extensive, most of the game seems to be 

 driven off and to remain for the time being in other parts, with the 

 exception of wart-hog, which then grubs up roots. This animal 

 therefore probably provides food for the newly emerged flies." 



On the other hand, the probability that good effects will eventually 

 result from clearing bush and woodland areas infested by Tsetse, 

 especially G. brevipalpis, by means of regulated late annual burnings is 

 strongly urged by Swynnerton, in his recent paper on " The Tsetse 



1 Cf. " Nyasaland Protectorate. Sleeping Sickness. Diary." Part xxL 

 By the Principal Medical Officer (Zomba. Printed by the Government Printer, 

 1913). Pp. 10, 11. 



