May 6, 1915] 

I may perhaps be allowed to mention that neither 
the British Rainfall Organisation nor I personally 
have any financial interest in any rain-measuring 
appliances, and we thus retain perfect freedom 
for the helpful criticism of all such instruments. 
Hucu Rosert MILL. 

INSECT PESTS AND WAR. 
AR is associated in the popular mind with 
the summoning of armies, the thunder of 
the guns, and the carnage of blood- stained battle- 
fields. Patriotism is manifested in personal sacri- 
fice in many directions, some public, many unsus- 
pected. All cannot help in the direct attack on 
our enemies, but all are able to assist in prevent- 
ing disease that plays so important a part in the 
progress of a campaign. Horrible as are the 
features of any war, times arise when the destruc- 
tive ‘‘minor horrors,” or insect pests, that are the 
inevitable accompaniment of the concentration of 
large numbers of men, assume a major import. 
The victims of the typhus now ravaging Serbia 
know this only too well. It is, then, a patriotic 
action on the part of Dr. Shipley to have set forth 
the life-histories of many noxious and disease- 
carrying arthropods, as well as certain leeches, 
together with very practical hints as to their 
prevention, in his book, ‘The Minor Horrors of 
War.” 
At the present time there is an undoubted need 
for the dissemination of knowledge regarding the 
réle of various pests, both insect and others, in a 
simple yet practical form. The advantage is con- 
siderably increased when the information is pre- 
sented in a lucid manner, with numerous illustra- 
tions, and in a style that may perhaps be best 
described as fully human. The accounts of the 
habits of lice, bugs, fleas, flies, mites, ticks, and 
leeches, which all have a share in injuring man, 
are set forth in a form that arrests the atten- 
tion, stimulates personal interest, and, at the same 
time, by humorous interludes, neither repels nor 
disgusts the reader. The practical side, as 
before mentioned, is kept in view throughout. 
Lice undoubtedly are unpleasant, but to ignore 
their existence does not minimise the danger aris- 
ing from their presence. At least two diseases 
that are known to occur in certain areas of the 
present war zone are transmitted by lice (Fig. 1). 
Relapsing fever is due to a spirochete that de- 
velops in the body-louse. The spirochaete reaches 
man when, in his endeavour to alleviate the irrita- 
tion due to the insect, he scratches his skin. 
Simultaneously, he crushes one or more of the un- 
welcome insects, and spirochetes are unwittingly 
rubbed into the slightly damaged skin. Troops 
operating in Africa understand how easy it is to 
touch the eyes to remove sand or dust, and a 
finger soiled by a crushed louse has been shown 
to convey relapsing fever when so used. Typhus 
fever also is spread by lice, and there is no need 
1 “The Minor Horrors of War.” By Dr. A. E. Shipley. Pp. xvii+166. 
(London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1915.) Price rs. 6d. net in paper covers, 
2s. net in cloth. 
NO. 2375, VOL. 95| 
NATURE 
265 


to dwell on the fearful rapidity with which this fell 
disease may spread. 
It must be remembered that the irritation of the 
body due to insect pests reacts on the mind, and 
is manifested in mental restlessness and lowered 
spirits. The clearly expressed preventive 
measures recommended against lice will doubtless 
be appreciated during the present campaign. 
Bugs are very undesirable intruders in houses, 
and troops operating in India and Persia have 
reason to fear their attentions. Ticks occur in the 
Eastern theatre of war, and also in African terri- 

tory where other troops are engaged. One tick, 
Ornithodorus moubata, transmits Spirochaeta 
arn 
| vi 
\ 
x12 
Front leg Antenna 
The louse. 
Krom ‘‘ The Minor Horrors of War.’ 
Fic. 1.—Pediculus vestimenti. Dorsal and ventral views. 
duttoni, the cause of a more severe form of re- 
lapsing fever. The young tick is unlike the adult, 
and being so much smaller, is more easily over- 
looked, and is therefore more dangerous, especi- 
ally as it may be born infected. Knowledge of 
its life-history, as set forth by Dr. Shipley, is 
important. 
Mites are small relatives of ticks, and those 
that infest man are often known to soldiers and 
field-workers by the name of harvest mites. The 
habits of these small pests, as well as those of the 
“itch insect,’ together with the modes of dis- 
lodging them, are facts that should be better 
