Foreword 



The ticks (Acari, Metastigmata) are with- 

 out doubt the most important carriers 

 and reservoir hosts of disease organisms 

 affecting wild and domestic animals and, 

 next to mosquitoes, the most important 

 vectors of human pathogens. The bites 

 of certain species may also cause an 

 acute and sometimes fatal intoxication 

 in humans known as tick paralysis, and 

 heavy infestations on domestic animals 

 may lead to unthriftiness and even death 

 through exsanguination. Serious losses 

 may also be caused by secondary infec- 

 tions of wounds inflicted by the para- 

 sites. Thus the bioeconomic problems 

 created by the group are enormous, and 

 clearly of fundamental importance to 

 their understanding is an adequate taxo- 

 nomic foundation. This to a great extent 

 must be dependent on studies of museum 

 material and particularly on studies of 

 collections of outstanding importance in 

 relation to the taxonomic history of the 

 group. 



Arguably, from this historical viewpoint, 

 the single most important collection of 

 ticks is that amassed by Professor 

 G. H. F. Nuttall. Although Nuttall 

 first turned his attention to the role 

 of arthropods in the spread of disease 

 as early as 1897, the real origin of the 

 tick collection began with his investiga- 

 tions of canine piroplasmosis at the 

 University of Cambridge in 1904. When 

 these studies revealed a lack of coordi- 

 nated knowledge of the biology and sys- 

 tematics of tick vectors, Nuttall 

 planned and began to collect material for 

 a comprehensive work, "Ticks: A Monograph 

 of the Ixodoidea." For this project he 

 enlisted the aid of C. Warburton, L. E. 

 Robinson, and W. F. Cooper. 



Originally the work was intended to be 

 published as a single volume, but the 

 task presented great difficulties. In 

 1908, the decision was made to issue 

 separately Part I of Volume I dealing 

 with the Argasidae. Part II ("Ixodidae," 



Section I, "Classification," Section II, 

 "The Genus Ixodes ") and Part III ("The 

 Genus Haemaphysalis "), both by G. H. F. 

 Nuttall and C. Warburton, were published 

 in 1911 and 1915, but the work was 

 seriously interrupted by World War I. 

 Part IV ("The Genus Amblyomma , " by 

 L. E. Robinson), which formed the first 

 part of Volume II, was not published 

 until 1926. It was Nuttall' s fervent 

 wish that the "Monograph" be completed. 

 Following his retirement as Quick Profes- 

 sor of Biology at Cambridge University 

 in 1931, he was able to devote more 

 attention to the project. Sadly his 

 sudden death in December 1937 brought 

 the undertaking to a standstill, and 

 although another fasciculus (Part V, "On 

 the Genera Dermacentor , Anocentor , 

 Cosmiomma , boophilus , and Margaropus , " 

 by Professor D. R. Arthur) was pub! i shea 

 in 1960, the Monograph remains unfin- 

 ished. 



Nuttall 's systematic studies at Cam- 

 bridge, undertaken mainly at the Quick 

 Laboratory and at the Molteno Institute 

 for Research in Parasitology, spanned a 

 period of about 33 years. During this 

 time he received enormous amounts of 

 material for critical examination from 

 physicians, veterinarians, parasitolo- 

 gists, and taxonomists working in all 

 parts of the world, so that at the time 

 of its presentation to the British Museum 

 (Natural History) by the Molteno Insti- 

 tute in 1939 his collection was unrivaled 

 in its importance. As presented, the 

 collection comprised three sections: A 

 reference collection, rich in types, rep- 

 resenting nearly all the valid species 

 then recognized; a "stock" collection 

 with many species represented by long 

 series of specimens; and an assemblage 

 of laboratory reared material. All items 

 were carefully labeled and numbered and 

 were documented in detail in a three - 

 volume handwritten register. 



Over the years the Nuttall collection has 



111 



