REVIEWS. 



L'Insect et L'Infeotion, Histoire Naturelle et Medicale des Ai'thropodes Patho- 

 genes. Par Raphael Blanchard, Professeur a la Faculty de Medicine de Paris, 

 membre de 1'Academie de Medicine, ler Fascicule: Acariens, 8°, 167 pages 

 avec 197 figures clans le texte. Prix, brochg 6 francs (=$1.20) Paris, 

 Libraire Scientifique et Litteraire, 4, rue Antoine-Dubois, Mai 1909. 



The first fascicle of this very important work has recently come to 

 our hand. As the distinguished author says : "The work is intended to 

 set forth the important and very little known role played by the three 

 groups of Arthropods in the propagation of infectious diseases: Arach- 

 nida, Myriapods and Insects, all classed under the general term Insect." 



This portion of Doctor Blanchard's work deals solely with the Acarina, 

 including the ticks 'and mites. The first chapter considers definitions 

 of the Acarina in general and the family Ixodidae or ticks; the second 

 deals with their morphology and anatomy ; the third with their evolution 

 and biology; the fourth with their systematic study and descriptions of 

 genera and species. In these chapters nothing seems to have been 

 omitted which will serve the average medical man in becoming acquainted 

 with the group, both from the zoological and medical standpoints. The 

 descriptions of organs and the account of the life history of ticks are 

 treated in a manner at once clear and comprehensive, while the tables 

 and descriptions of genera and species make the classification of the 

 ticks which will usually be met by the physician and veterinarian 

 comparative!} 1 ' easy. 



The systematic works on this group by Nathan Banks, the American 

 authority, have been freely requisitioned as have those of Donitz, Pocock, 

 and Salmon & Stiles. This, together with Doctor Blanchard's pro- 

 found knowledge of the group has made his work the most up-to-date 

 and complete of anything that has recently appeared. 



The illustrations, of which there are some 197 in the text, are all 

 carefully prepared and lucid. The bibliography is not what the word 

 implies, as it simply indicates the authors who have worked on the 

 groups and the date of their publications without the titles. However, 

 it may be that Doctor Blanchard intends to append a bibliography to 

 the last part. The work is to be completed in three or four parts and . 

 the remaining numbers are to deal with the Diptera (flies, including 

 mosquitoes), the Aphaniptera (fleas) and the Hemiptera (bedbugs, 

 lice, etc.). 



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