in  the  supplement  to  the  Jamaica  Gazette*  for  October,  1896.  This 
author  claims  that  the  disease  as  witnessed  by  him  was  a  chronic 
form  of  ‘  Texan  fever  ....  conveyed  from  one  animal  to 
another  through  the  intervention  of  the  tick.’  His  recommendations 
for  the  control  of  the  ticks  will  be  considered  later.  Three  different 
kinds  of  ticks  are  mentioned  by  him  as  affecting  cattle.- — (i)  ‘The 
large  blue  cow  tick,  also  called  the  dog  tick,  Ixodes  ricinus,  the  first 
known  tick  on  this  Island  and  not  supposed  to  be  injurious  ’  ;  (2)  ‘  the 
silver  shield  tick  Ixodes  scapitlatus  ’ ;  and  (3)  a  tick  ‘  similar  to 
or  identical  with  specimens  of  the  Texan  cattle  tick  Ixodes  bovis! 
Subsequent  researches  have  shown  that  Ixodes  ricinus  does  not  occur 
in  any  of  the  West  Indian  Islands  or  in  South  America,  so  that  it 
must  have  been  a  case  of  mistaken  identity  on  the  part  of  Professor 
Williams,  and  this  species  has  therefore  been  eliminated  from  the 
list  of  Jamaican  ticks.  Ixodes  scapulatus  is  synonymous  with 
Aniblyomma  cajanense  and  Ixodes  bovis  =  Mar  gar  opus  annul  aius 
var.  australis. 
During  the  years  1896-7  an  endeavour  was  made  by  the  Institute 
of  Jamaica  to  secure  a  large  and  representative  collection  of  ticks 
from  all  parts  of  the  Island,  with  the  view  of  obtaining  the  specific 
identifications,  in  the  hope  that  such  might  throw  some  light  upon 
the  fever  from  which  the  cattle  were  then  suffering.  Many  contribu¬ 
tions  were  received  at  the  Museum  from  various  pen  keepers,  and 
the  whole  collection  was  subsequently  forwarded  to  Professor  G. 
Neumann,  Ecole  National  Veterinaire  de  Toulouse.  About  three 
years  later  a  list  of  the  ticks  of  Professor  Neumann’s  identification 
appeared  m  the  local  press,  together  with  the  names  of  the  hosts 
from  which  they  were  collected.  The  species  therein  recorded  are  :  — 
(i)  Rhipicephalus  annulatus  var.  microplus  from  cattle.  (This  is 
evidently  synonymous  with  var.  australis).  (2)  Rhipicephalus 
sanguineus  (from  horses  and  cattle).  (3)  D ermacentor  nitens  (from 
horses  and  mules).  (4)  Aniblyomma.  cajanense  (from  the  horse). 
(5)  Aniblyomma  (?)  coriaceum  (one  engorged  female  only  found  on 
grass) ,  this  is  a  doubtful  record  and  should  be  eliminated  from  the 
list  of  Jamaican  species  (6)  Argas  americanus  (  =  persicus),  from 
the  domestic  fowl.  W^ith  the  exception  of  the  Argas,  all  the  rest  were 
