ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DERMATOBIA HOMINIS. 487 



in both wild and domesticated mammals as well as in man he held that the ancient 

 belief in the existence of a specific CEstrus hominis had been definitely set aside. 



In a second paper ('94) Blanchard added many points to our knowledge of the 

 larva on the basis of studies on a large number of specimens received from Brazil, 

 mostly of the form designated as torcel. He was able to show that the armature 

 of the seventh and eighth somites was subject to considerable modification; thus while 

 the anterior row of the seventh somite preserved its general arrangement, the posterior 

 series might be lacking, or on the contrary very numerous; in the latter case hooks 

 in anteversion might also appear on the ventral face. When the seventh somite is 

 well supplied with hooks, the eighth also tends to develop these structures; but this 

 is precisely the condition which obtains in the larva designated as berne, whence one 

 is forced to conclude that the distinction between the torcel and the berne is not real. 

 The berne is only a torcel with a maximum development of the armature on the seventh 

 and eighth somites. 



In a third paper Blanchard ('96), after an historical introduction and summary 

 of the present state of knowledge regarding these larvae, reported on the examination 

 of a specimen of the ver moyocuil from Mexico which he found to be absolutely iden- 

 tical with the berne from Brazil. The paper contains further data regarding the 

 examination of a considerable number of specimens from Brazil, Guiana, and Colombia; 

 one of these was about to molt and combined on the outer and inner skins character- 

 istics of the ver macaque and of the torcel. Blanchard then summarizes his studies 

 on the larvae of Dermatobia as follows: 



"1° La Dermatobia noxialis (Goudot) est repandue dans toute l'Ameiique inter- 

 tropicale. Elle depasse meme plus ou moins la zone intertropicale, vers le nord et 

 vers le sud, puisqu'on l'a observee jusque dans le sud des Etats-Unis. Aucune obser- 

 vation moderne ne permet d'affirmer qu'elle existe aussi dans cette zone Stroite qui 

 s'etend a l'ouest des montagnes Rocheuses et de la Cordilliere des Andes, mais le 

 temoignage de Linn6 junior et celui de Jimenez de la Espada, cite* anterieurement par 

 moi, rendent cette opinion tres vraisemblable." 



"2° Malgrd la multiplicity des observations faites dans les pays les plus varied 

 et sur les animaux les plus divers; malgre la variety des noms locaux sous lesquels 

 on le designe, les larves cuticoles du genre Dermatobia, observers jusqu'a ce jour chez 

 l'Homme et les animaux domestiques, appartiennent a une seule et unique espece: la 

 Dermatobia noxialis (Goudot)." 



"3° Les deux formes larvaires, dont j'ai precise precedemment les caracteres 

 distinctifs, ne sont que deux Stats successifs de cette meme espece, separes l'une de 

 l'autre par une mue qui s'accomplit au sein meme de la tumeur ou la larve evolue." 



