83 



Victoria, 1903, " from long grass " (Colonel Sir David Bruce, C.B., 

 R.A.M.C., F.R.S.) ; Mruli, Victoria Nile, January, 1907, " single 

 specimen, taken in tent " (the late Dr. W. A. Densham). Anglo- 

 Egyptian Sudan : White Nile, about 1862 (Consul Petherick) ; 

 Bahr-El-Ghazal, February, 1905 (Lt.-Col. It. H. Penton, D.S.O., 

 R.A.M.C.). Angola : Kinsembo (presented by the late F. Smith, 

 1872). 



From a note kindly supplied by Dr. J. E. S. Old, it would appear 

 that the eyes of this species in life are greenish blue. The late Dr. 

 Densham observed that " the translucent wing-tip, with dark 

 markings at one side, gives T. africanus a curious appearance when 

 on the wing." Mr. F. D. McMillan has been good enough to furnish 

 the following note on Tabanus africanus, as observed by him in 

 Lorenzo Marques, Portuguese East Africa : " Native name Hla 

 (pronounced Shld) Bowu. A rather uncommon fly, much dreaded 

 by the natives. It attacks in the heat of the day, when the observer 

 is stationary, flies silently, and nearly always goes for the neck and 

 back. Its bite causes a sharp smart, which soon goes off, leaving a 

 peculiar swelling half an inch in diameter, which gradually increases 

 to the size of a shilling. The centre is not raised, but only the cir- 

 cumference, which looks like a small ring under the skin, with a small 

 dot where the bite was. It is very painful to the touch, and the 

 individual bitten invariably gets a temperature as high as 104, 

 which, however, passes off in about six hours. The natives, who 

 formerly used to smear their spears with squashed, dead Hla-flies as 

 a poison, say that three bites will kill a man, and that the victim 

 goes mad." According to Mr. C. E. Lyall* : " In some localities 

 on the White Nile, T. africanus and probably other species of similar 

 appearance is known to the natives as Ter-el-gufar (' bird ' or 

 ' flying thing of camel sickness '), owing to the belief that exists 

 among them that it is the cause of the common camel disease." 



* Of. H. H. King, Third Report of the Wellcome Research Laboratories at the 

 Gordon Memorial College, Khartoum, p.' 210 ([1908J 1909). 



