Consideration of the outbreak of fever at Morib in Selangor, Federated Malay States, impresses us with the great practical importance of obtaining an exact comparative infectivity table of the various anophelines, compiled on a comprehensive basis; it is only by accurate study of a disease and the factors responsible for it, that it can be successfully combated.

At Morib we can only rely on general considerations and conclude that the species ludlowi has been causing most of the trouble.

It would seem that the reason that hill-land malaria in Malaya, and perhaps India, is so difficult to get, rid of is because it is conveyed by mosquitoes of high infectivity and low prevalence, whereas low-land malaria can be easily allayed because it is conveyed by mosquitoes of low infectivity and high prevalence. It is a corollary to this that if malaria in any community can be easily allayed, it is caused by mosquitoes which possess low infectivity.

Many basic data relating to the ecology of ticks are known, thanks mainly to the studies of Hunter, Bishopp and others on North American ticks.

The methods so successfully used in ridding Panama of yellow fever and delimiting malarial fever have been equally valuable in checking an epidemic of Equine Trypanosorniasis in the Canal Zone.

From various parts of the world I have recently received a number of mites taken from bats, and the present paper gives descriptions and figures of five new species—one new species of the genus Ancystropus; two new species of the genus Spinturnix; one in the genus Hirstesia and the last in the genus Foliomyobia.

Some monocystids of British earthworms are widely distributed, occurring in hosts which were collected from different parts of the country, whereas others are localized or irregularly distributed.Only nine of the 45 monocystids identified from British earthworms have been reported from similar hosts collected from France, Germany and Sweden. Fourteen others occur in similar hosts collected from one or two of the continental countries and the remaining 22 monocystids appear to be completely absent from continental earthworms.

The blood parasite described in this paper occurs in the diplopod Archiulus moreleti (the common garden milliped) which is too well known to warrant any description. The incidence of the infection fluctuates considerably, varying from almost 50% to about 1% in the same locality within the course of a few months. There is apparently no seasonal rhythm of incidence.

In my “Revision of the Genus Stilesia” I had to leave several points in the anatomy of Stilesia globipunctata (Riv.) undecided, as the material I had of the worm was too macerated to allow of any definite conclusions. At the same time I pointed out, that the topography of the male canals as described by Stiles and Hassall disagreed with the conditions obtaining in Stilesia hepatica Wolffhügel, in other respects a very closely related species. The necessity for a re-examination of Stilesia globipunctata (Riv.) in order to decide whether the differences really exist, or whether they were supposed to do so, on account of the material examined by Stiles being rather macerated (loc. cit. p. 74), was all the greater as Stilesia globipunctata (Riv.) is the type species of the genus Stilesia. Through the kindness of Mr Littlewood, Chief Inspector of the Veterinary Department, I was able to obtain living examples of Stilesia globipunctata (Riv.) at the Cairo abattoir on Jan. 27, 1912. These worms have been fixed with Zeuker's solution, hardened and cut.

The existence of trypanosomiasis amongst the ruminants of Turkestan has been suspected for many years, but the first definite record is that of Liihs (f906) who discovered Trypanosoma theileri in the blood of cattle in Transcaucasia. This was followed by the discovery of the same parasite in the Trans-Baikal Region (Dudukaloff), the Don Province (Stolnikoff) and in the Pskov and Vitebsk Governments (Yakimoff and Bekensky). Wrublewski found this trypanosome in the blood of bison from the Bieloviejsky forests and later it was discovered by Yakimoff in Turkestan.

The biochemical characteristics of phenol oxidase obtained from Penetrocephalus ganapatii have been investigated using manometric and electrophoretic techniques. Phenol oxidase was found to have maximum activity at pH 7·4, the Michaelis constant for dopamine was 189 μM and the enzyme was stable between 20 and 40°C. Potassium cyanide, sodium diethyldithiocarbamate and phenylthiourea strongly suppressed enzyme activity. The Ki values for potassium cyanide, diethyldithiocarbamate and phenylthiourea were 33μM, 700 μM and 938 μM respectively. The properties of soluble and insoluble enzymes to various phenolic substrates are discussed.

The general structure and aspects of the development of the ovaries of the palaeacanthocephalan Corynosoma semerme were studied by transmission electron microscopy using worms varying in age from 18 to 90 h obtained from experimental primary infections in hydrocortisone-treated rats instead of seals, which serve as the natural definitive hosts. The observations can be interpreted to show that the immature ovaries become transformed relatively rapidly from cellular spheres to the more complex mature ovaries consisting of the supporting and oogonial syncytia and the germ-line cells. The supporting syncytium developed before the oogonial syncytium. The cytological appearance of ovaries from worms from rats was found to be similar to that of ovaries from mature worms of unknown age from naturally infected seals. Ecological evidence is considered to suggest that the rapid maturation of C. semerme in rats may also occur when the parasite becomes established in seals.

Readers approaching this book should not expect a review of the diverse forms of parasitic organisms or a series of illustrations of the extraordinary adaptations parasitism has provided. This is a book of theory and graph, of generalization and synthesis. It is aimed at a broad audience, with the hope that the reader ‘when later gazing at a bird gliding overhead, will see not just the bird, but will also see (or at least imagine!) the flying assemblage of parasite species’.

The present study was performed on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of Theileria annulata transformed dendritic cells (TaDCs) and monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs) to compare differences in antigen presentation and stimulation of T lymphocyte proliferation. Antigen presentation for T lymphocyte proliferation was analysed by flow cytometry. Additionally, the level of mRNA transcription of small GTPases of the Rab family expressed in the TaDC cell line was analysed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (Q-RT-PCR). The endocytosis rate of TaDCs was significantly (P < 0.01) lower than in MoDCs. In contrast, when T lymphocytes were co-cultured with TaDC-APCs T cell proliferation was similar, while co-culture with MoDC-APC stimulated proliferation of CD4+ cells to a greater degree than CD8+ cells. However, the efficacy of TaDC-APCs to stimulate T lymphocytes dropped as the number of passages of TaDC-APC increased. Likewise, the transcription level of Rab family genes also significantly (P > 0.001) declined with progressive passages (>50) of the TaDC cell line. We conclude that initially the TaDC cell line efficiently presents antigen to stimulate T lymphocyte proliferation to produce a cellular immune response against the presented antigen.

N, N′-bis (3,4 ditrifluoromethylphenyl) methylmalonamide (Sch18545) completely controlled a mild Eimeria necatrix infection at 50, 40 or 30 p.p.m. in the diet, and controlled E. tenella infections at 50 and 40 p.p.m. Slight oocyst passage was observed at each E. tenella treatment level with a marked increase at the 30 p.p.m. treatment level. Fifty p.p.m. were necessary to control E. acervulina infections; levels of 40 p.p.m. reduced E. acervulina oocyst production while 30 p.p.m. were ineffective. Evaluations of Sch 18545 using a mixed infection (Coccivac D®) further suggested that activity with this compound was weakest against E. acervulina. Weight gains decreased with increasing concentration of drug in the diet of treated, infected birds and thus the compound showed an insufficient safety margin to be of practical value. Sch 18545 administered at 35 p.p.m. in the diet was effective against amprolium, zoalene, aklomide or nicarbazin-resistant strains of E. tenella.

In the experiments reported here treatment (with a single dose or daily for 4 days) was delayed until 3 days after inoculation. Various combinations of M&B 35769, 2:4-diamino-5-[3(4–4′-chlorophenylphenoxy)propyl-l-oxy]-6-methylpyrimidine HC1, plus sulphadoxine, and of M&B 35769 plus dapsone, were examined and it was concluded that no universally ideal ratio of constituents in a combination is possible because the optimum ratio depends upon the activity of the constituents on their own and therefore varies from strain to strain. Activity was assessed on the 24th day after infection. M&B 35769 was markedly superior to pyrimethamine against all strains when the compounds were given on their own but, although it showed good potentiation with sulphadoxine and dapsone, much of its lead over pyrimethamine was lost in combination. M&B 36821 2–4-diamino-5-[3-(3,4′-dibromobiphenyl-4-oxy)-propyl-l-oxy]-6-methyl pyrimidine HC1, was more active than M&B 35769 against pyrimethamine- and cycloguanil-resistant strains but not against sensitive strains.