ORIGIN OF THE DISEASE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 53, 2 March 1916, Page 6

ORIGIN OF THE DISEASE.

BEACH FLY A CARRIER. (By Telegraph. -Special to "Sta.-.vj CHRIsfcHORCH, this day. .„ , C 'il-. Morris, president of the Canterbury Microscopical Society, has had an inconspicuous dark-coioured fly, which frequents the sea beaches here, under inspection for some time, and is convmeed that it is the carrier of th germ which causes imantile paralysis. The fly, scientifically, is "Coelopa littoralis." It is known to New Zealand entomologists, and is closely related to the stable ay of England, and to another fly which, after Mr. Morris began nS ' l as v , accused in America of being the probable agent in transmittin.; the disease in Massachusetts. Under Morns' microscopic lens this little insect has a very formidable appearance. It has a curved fang, adapted for biting and compared with its fragile body and innocent appearance, can give a very severe bite. Mr. Morris was watching for the carrier of disease for some time, and ultimately he concentrated all his attention on Coelopa lateralis. This year he began to observe it fairly early. A few weeks ago no signs of it could be found at New Brighton or Sumner- last week it was plentiful at Sumner,' and then the first case of infantile paralysis in Canterbury was reported, the victim coming from that resort. Mr. Morris is satisfied that the simultaneous appearance of the fly and the disease in this part of New Zealand is not a mere coincidence. The fly frequents pieces of kelp on the beach, and lays its eggs there. Kelp usually contains dead shellfish and other decaying matter on which germs may live. Efforts to find a stain that will take the germ on a microscopic slide have not been successful at present, but both Mr. Morris and Dr. Pearson, bacteriologist, of tho Christciturch General Hospital, are working in this direction, and hope to obtain some definite results soon. Mt. Morris agrees with investigators at the Rockefeller Institute in America that the house fly should be exonerated from the charge of carrying, because it does not bite. Dr. Noguchi, a member of the Institute, is trying to discover whether the fly in America related to the New Zealand fly i s the only means by which the disease is carried.