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Only 14,995,272 acres, or 15.7 per cent of the whole area of Japan, exclusive of Formosa, consists of arable land, and 55 per cent of the agricultural families cultivate less than two acres each; 30, per cent cultivate 2 acres or more up to 1 Yl cho, or a- Jittle less than 3 acres, leaving 15 per cent of the farmers who cultivate the farms of 3 acres or more. An important and valuable discovery relative to the deadly sleeping sickness has been made by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The cause of this disease, according to the results of elaborate diagnoses that have been made, is attributable to trypanos-omiasis, i. e., the presence in the blood, and in the fluids of the brain and spinal cord, of some form of the microscopic parasite known as trypanosoma, which is propagated by the tsetse fly in South Africa. From the close - observations that have been made upon the afflicted patients, the symptoms and the danger bear some relation to the greater or less abundance of the parasites, and develop seriously when they have entered the cerebro-spinal fluid. The parasites may be present in the blood of deeply-seated organs, when they are not to be found in that which is drawn from a skin puncture, and their frequent temporary disappearances from this surface blood renders it difficult some-be certain of their presence in the system. The expedition organized by the school also discovered a blood-sucking larva, which thrives in many parts of the Congo. During the daytime larva conceals itelf in the cracks of the native floors, and only attacks its victims during the night. When dug up they are found to be full of bright red blood, thereby testifying to the- severity of their attack during the previous night. It is the larva of the Glossina fly which is apparently harmless in the imago state. This discovery is of great value, and systematic measures to combat its injurious nature will at once be inaugurated.
