FLIES AND ORIENTAL SORE 285 



Massachusetts, U.S.A., is described by Orton (1910) who con- 

 sidered that house-flies were responsible tor the epidemic. In 

 this paper which contains interesting observations on the breeding 

 of the flies in spent hops and malt barley, the author describes 

 experiments which were carried out with a view to testing his 

 hypothesis. The possibility of infection being distributed in such 

 an institution was appreciated to a greater extent owing to the 

 difficulty of confining the intestinal discharges to the proper place. 

 The clothing and bedding of the patients were brought to the 

 laundry in which flies were abundant. In the experiments B. pro- 

 digiosus, being easily recognisable, was exposed in the laundry. 

 This bacillus was recovered ft-om flies subsequently at intervals 

 in other rooms of the hospital. Such results would apjjear to 

 indicate a strong probability of the carriage of the dysenteric 

 organism under similar conditions which were known to exist. 



I feel confident that further investigations into the relation 

 of house-flies to the distribution of the causative organisms of 

 dysentery of both types, bacillary and amoebic, will give positive 

 results \ 



Oriental Sore. 



This skin disease which is characterised by a slowly spreading, 

 ulcerating condition of the skin is endemic in certain tropical and 

 sub-tropical regions such as Northern Africa, Sahara (Biskra), 

 Egypt, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia (Bagdad) and India. Wright in 

 1903 discovered the so-called Leishman parasites in the granula- 

 tion cells. Manson also discovered the same organism in cases of 

 oriental sore and considered them, or a parasite morphologically 

 identical, as the causative organism of the sore and the latter 

 investigator (1907) suggested that flies, bugs or other insects 

 might be responsible for the indirect method of infection. 



1 Krontowski (1913) infected the larvae of various flies including J/, domentica 

 with B. dyaenteriae and allowed them to pupate. An examination of the faeces of 

 the resulting flies gave negative results. The author elaborated Auche's experi- 

 ments with adult flies and came to the conclusion that the bacteria can retain their 

 virulence when on the feet or proboscis, or in the alimentary tract of the fly, whence 

 they are eventually voided with the excreta. Wherever flies have free access to 

 food and to infected human faeces the danger of dysentery and, according to 

 Krontowski, epidemic typhus is great. 



