i 3 4 THOMPSON YATES AND JOHNSTON LABORATORIES REPORT 
of Ornithodoros from Angola, West Africa, as belonging to Neumann's var. 
ccecus. 
Seeing that the specific characters of 0. moubata are now found to be so 
markedly distinct from 0. savignyi, there should be no difficulty in clearing 
up these somewhat important discrepancies by those who are in possession 
of the types. 
The authors of the Report on the Congo Expedition are to be congratu- 
lated on the discovery of the life cycle of Ornithodorus moubata, which has 
not been hitherto observed. In many respects the habits of this species are 
not unlike those of Argas pcrsicus, but so far as I have been able to ascertain 
the inert character of the larva of O . moubata is unique among the Ixodinae, 
in that it passes the whole of its life within the egg. 
Three original drawings illustrative of the development of the larva and 
nymph accompanied Drs. Dutton and Todds' report, but they were so 
damaged in transit as to be useless for reproduction. 
Experiments with the Ticks Imported from the Congo Expedition. 
Experiment i, June ig. — Thirteen nymphs were placed in a hollow bamboo, 
which was fastened to the axilla of a young Macaque monkey {Macacus cynomo- 
logus). The ends of the tube were securely corked, and a large section was cut 
away, providing the ycung ticks with ample means of access to the host. As 
a further means of precaution against admission of light, the tube was covered 
with a thick cloth. Under these conditions the ticks were allowed to remain on 
the host for a period cf five hours. Result — nil. All the ticks refused to feed. 
Experiment 2, June iQ- — Five adult female ticks were put into a tube simi- 
lar to that in which the nymphs were placed, and fastened to an adult Macaque, 
but as the ticks refused to feed they were subsequently removed and placed 
together on the monkey in the hollow below the knee of the left leg. and care- 
fully covered with a chamois leather. One of the ticks almost immediately 
attached itself to the host; this tock place at about 1.30 p.m., and the female 
left the host, fully engorged, at 3 p.m. 
Observations on the Engorged Tick and Her Progeny. 
The female became very restive after feeding, and made repeated 
attempts to escape from the bright sunlight. She was put into a Petri dish 
on a deep layer of dry sand, in which she rapidly buried herself, and was 
subsequently placed in a dry incubator at an even temperature of 29C. After 
laying the first batch of eggs, she was removed from the Petri dish and 
placed in a partly hollowed out banana and enclosed in a cardboard box. 
I he animal immediately left the banana and took up a position in a broad 
groove, where she was partly concealed, in which position she remained 
fixed and inert until long after the third batch of eggs were laid. No atten- 
tion was paid to the banana ; indeed, she made a hasty retreat from the 
fruit and got as far away from it as the limits of her cage would permit. Two 
additional batches of eggs were laid, both lots beino- protected for a few 
days beneath the body of the parent, but both lots finally slipped from 
beneath her and fell, intact, to the bottom of the box. She defaecated three 
times during the period of egg laying, the white fluid like faeces, when dry, 
left a white deposit resembling French chalk in texture. The actual process 
