1866.] (KSTRUS TARANDI IN A REINDEER. 591 



the Platyrrhine Simice among Quadrumana are each and all, under 

 given circumstances, liable to be attacked by different species of 

 Olstrus, which deposit their eggs upon the hairs, or even within the 

 skin of the body. 



In Man a number of well-authenticated cases have from time to 

 time occurred, proving that the human body in certain warm coun- 

 tries occasionally furnishes a nidus for some species of this or the 

 allied genus Cuierebus. The term CEstrus hominis has by some been 

 applied to this parasite; but Goudot*, a French writer, considers 

 that the cases of its being found in Man are merely chance instances 

 of the eggs being deposited in the human skin by the species en- 

 countered in different animals. 



My present note, however, is chiefly intended to call attention to 

 the fact of two larvae being detected in the skins of a Reindeer in 

 this country, and its being an example of one of the many means by 

 which species of insects are carried to distant countries. 



Two male Reindeers were kindly presented to our Society by H. 

 H. Elder, Esq., on the 1st of June'last. They were imported direct 

 from Russia, but possibly may first have come from Lapland. Our 

 Superintendent, Mr. Bartlett, whose powers of acute observation on 

 live animals are well known, detected an unusual appearance on the 

 skin of one of these Reindeer, and, examining it more carefully, 

 found several nodulous excrescences, from which he obtained the two 

 pupae of which the cases are figured below. Desirous of knowing 

 more respecting them, and rightly judging them to be the result of 

 a diseased condition, he brought them to me. Having before seen 



Pupa-case of (Estrus from the Reindeer in Gardens, lSfifi. Nat. size. 



A. Dorsal surface. B. Ventral surface with lid removed, where insect escaped. 



C. Triangular operculum. 



pupae and larvae of an analogous kind in domestic animals, I knew 

 at once their true nature, and suggested a further search, both for 

 the purpose of ridding the creatures of a painful nuisance, and at 

 the same time of prosecuting the study of the disease. Mr. Bartlett, 

 however, failed in obtaining more specimens, although he noticed 

 the animal's coat to be much pit-marked, apparently where other 

 pupae had lain buried. 



I had the two pupae in my possession above a week, believing the 



* Ann. des Sci. Nat. 184.".. t. 3-4. p. -227. 



