education, to study the tropical disorders of mail and beast 
peculiar to the Sudan, to study the poisons of this region, 
the agricultural pests, sanitation, minerals and other thing’s 
relating to industrial development. The work on the blood 
parasites of man and domestic animals is of the greatest 
importance to all living in the tropics, and although we 
here are fortunate in not being affected with sleeping- 
sickness or Kal'a-Azar, still we have enough blood-parasites 
for this work to be of the utmost importance not onlv to 
doctors of man but of those of our agricultural stock. The 
coloured figures of Trypanosomes are as fine as anything 
that has been published. The article on the Sanitation of 
Khartoum is worth reading by all Municipal Commissioners 
in the Tropics, and the story of the conversion of Khartoum 
from a filthy, stinking malarious spot into a decent clean 
comparatively healthy town, is one of no small interest. 
In this part of the work some experiments are detailed of 
the use of Den is uliginosa as a larvicide for mosquitoes. 
This climber is an extremely common and rather pretty 
plant with pale pink pea-flowers in our mangrove swamps, 
and perhaps it might be used here. It is allied to the well- 
known Tuba root, and was found to be very effective in 
killing mosquito larvae, a decoction of the back being 
used. The plant is however difficult to procure in Khar- 
toum. It might be possible to make an extract of these 
barks which could be used as a larvicide in parts of the 
world where the plants themselves could not grow. 
The report on harmful insects closely allied or 
identical with species common here is well illustrated by 
fine colored drawings. There are chapters on ethnology 
and anthropology with excellent photographs, and a good 
deal of the results in chemical research on water, and vege- 
table fats and oils. The work ends with a valuable account 
of the Sudan Gums, and Gum trade. 
During the year the staff sustained the loss of a valu- 
able assistant in I)r. Mactier Pirrie who after making an 
important expedition into the interior was taken ill with 
Kala-azar and malaria to which he succumbed after his 
return to Scotland. Much of his work appears in the re- 
port. 
The bacteriological laboratory too was destroyed by 
fire entailing a severe loss of specimens and records for the 
past five years. Notwithstanding these losses the report is 
of great value, and fully justifies the existence of the Re- 
search Laboratories. 
Ed. 
