58 
The animal is reckoned poisonous, and its bite has in 
certain cases been followed by death, although nothing is 
yet known of its poison-apparatus. 
The species of Turkistan beetles are estimated at 1000. 
I have before me a list of 500, some of them as yet un- 
published. Amongst the most remarkable is the Copr7s 
tumulus, the largest specimen measuring one inch and 
three-quarters long. 
The hymenopterous fauna of Turkistan is not yet fully 
worked out, but I may observe that of Afe//ifera there 
are known 438 species, and of SAhegid@ upwards of 150. 
As regards the latter, the valleys of Ferghana and the 
Zarafshan do not present many specialities. On the 
other hand, the Kizil Kum desert abounds in new species 
and even genera, sharply distinguished from known spe- 
cies both in the form of the body and in the beauty and 
size of the individuals. There is, moreover, a remarkable 
similarity between the species belonging to the Kizil Kum 
and the Egyptian sands. Of Scoliid@ 30 species are known, 
whilst of A/z¢z//id@ 18 species have been treated by Gen. 
Radoszkoysky, who informs me that Gen. Komaroff, now 
military governor of the Trans-Caspian district, has 
quite recently made scientific explorations between As- 
khabad and Merv, and that among the insects collected 
by him about Askhabad are six speces of Wutillide, four 
of which are marked as new, and one as a new genus. 
Of 36 species of ants collected in Turkistan, 7 only 
were new. The Formicide of the region seem 
to be very similar to those of South Europe. This 
is not astonishing, since the mean temperature of a 
Turkistan summer differs little from the mean summer 
heat in Southern Europe, and this case only proves once 
more that, in general, countries with summers alike have 
greater similarity with regard to fauna and flora than 
countries lying under identical isotherms with different 
summers, This peculiarity is evident with regard to 
Formicide, because, for example, in Italy and Turkistan 
they have an identical summer ; and though the winter 
in Turkistan is long and cold, it does not appear to have 
much influence over the ants, which are protected there- 
from. European species which live in trees and woods 
appear to be in most cases absent from Turkistan. Of 
the new Turkistan species one Jschnomyrmex rhaphidii- 
ceps) is specially interesting, as closely allied to two 
species inhabiting countries between the tropical and sub- 
tropical zones of the southern hemisphere. It is remark- 
able, therefore, to meet with a species of the same genus 
in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere, and it 
may be presumed that these last have existed in Turkistan 
since the Tertiary period. I have yet to mention Chrys?- 
diformes, of which 53 species have been found in 
Turkistan, and among them 2 new genera and 15 new 
species. 
Before passing from hymenopterous insects I may 
mention that, though saw-flies are not numerous in the 
Zarafshan Valley, yet there is one form particularly re- 
markable, for, with a normal male, related to the group 
Selandrid@ is a female without traces of wings. Affected 
by this absence of wings, the thorax undergoes important 
changes, and appears greatly swollen, and all the females 
generally have the appearance of little bags. Its relation 
to this family is said to be astounding, since it is the only 
example of the wingless form in the whole family of saw- 
flies. All the other specialities of structure, however, as 
well as the wings of the male, confirm it. 
One of the first lists made of the butterflies and moths 
of Turkistan enumerated 367 species, of which 122 species 
were of Microlepidoptera. The great majority (284) were 
caught in the oases and hilly districts between 750 and 
4500 feet above the sea; 41 species also were taken on 
mountains up to 8000 feet high, and 28 species from 8000 
to 13,000 feet. Mr. Alpheraky, of Taganrog, has furnished 
me with a list in manuscript of 377 species of Lepidoptera 
collected by him in 1879 jn the district of Kuldja and the 
NATURE 
[May 21, 1885 
surrounding mountains ; but even these two lists together, 
I am told, give only an incomplete enumeration of the 
Lepidoptera of Turkistan, which contains a large number 
of new forms. 
As we travelled from Tashkend to Khojend dragon-flies 
were so numerous that we caught several specimens by ex- 
tending a butterfly-net from our carriage. The neuroptero- 
logical fauna, however, of Turkistan is only partially 
known. Mr. MacLachlan has treated upwards of 60 
species, most of them European in character, and many 
of them belonging even to Western Europe, whilst there 
is also an unimportant mixture of the Indian element. 
There is a mingling again of the Indian element in the 
orthopterous fauna of Turkistan, but the Indian species 
are much fewer than the European. This fauna is par- 
ticularly like that of South Russia, and it contains a large 
number of West European species. The non-European 
species are from South Asia, among which are a few from 
more distant countries, particularly from Africa. The 
total number of species known in Turkistan exceeds 70. 
Among them should be mentioned two locusts, and a 
third called locally Prws. Ravages of the former have 
been complained of in the neighbourhcod of Perovsk and 
of the “ Prws” in the Zarafshan Valley. 
Of Hemiptera I have no list of species, but I saw a 
fine collection at Tashkend, made by Mr. Oshanin. 
I come, lastly, to Ces¢odes, or intestinal worms. Of 47 
species known in Turkistan, 2 are found in man, 3 each 
in the dog and sheep, 2 each in the cat and goat, and 1 
each in the horse, ox, and marmot ; 30 are found in birds, 
2 in reptiles, and 1 in fishes. Of all the Vermes the 
most interesting is what the Bokhariots call the Azsh¢a 
(Filaria medinensis). The parasite is found at Bokhara 
and certain adjacent towns in the water of stagnant pools, 
which the natives drink, and suffer in consequence from 
the 7/sh/a disease. The worm develops under the skin, 
lengthening at the rate of about an inch in a week, until 
an abscess is formed, through which the head (as is said) 
of the parasite appears. The problem, then, is to extract 
the animal entire. Native specialists insert a needle, and 
one end is drawn out by the fingers of the right hand, 
whilst those of the left press the adjacent part. Russian 
medical men wind off the animal on a reel, so much as 
comes out daily without force, till the whole, commonly 
three feet in length, is extracted. If, however, the worm 
should break, thousands of fresh germs are liberated from 
the broken part, and the illness continues for several 
months. I met with an unsuccessful case at Samarkand, 
and was given by the doctor some pieces of the 7zs/Za, 
which I brought in spirits to London. 
The appearance of the worm is of a milk-white colour, 
resembling cooked vermicelli, and it can be stretched like 
a piece of elastic. The investigations of Prof. Fedchenko 
brought to light some very interesting facts concerning the 
vishta, the first of which was that the germs of the parasite 
cannot live in very fresh water, which is in keeping with 
the fact that the parasite appears only in those places 
where the people are forced to use standing water. The 
vishta is the last of the Turkistan fauna that I can men- 
tion here, but I hope within a few weeks to publish fuller 
particulars, through Messrs. Sampson Low and Co., ina 
new work entitled “Russian Central Asia, including 
Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva, and Merv, with Appendices on 
the Fauna, Flora, and Bibliography of Russian Turkistan.” 
HENRY LANSDELL 
FIELD EXPERIMENTS AT ROTHAMSTED? 
ar HE above Report, forwarded to us, bears the name of 
no publisher, and is not priced. It therefore may 
be taken as a private issue, copies of which can only be 
+ «Memoranda of the Field Experiments conducted on the Farm and in 
the Laboratory of Sir John Bennett Lawes, Bart., at Rothamsted, Herts., 
June, 1884.” 
OV ——— 
; 
