Introduction and Acknowledgements

Very little is known of the blood parasites, other than those of man, of the tropical islands of the South-west Pacific. The studies discussed in the present account were undertaken with the object of shedding some light on the haematozoan fauna of Fiji.

With the exception of Wuchereria bancrofti (Cobbold), a causal agent of filariasis in man, and Dirofilaria immitis (Leidy), responsible for causing canine heart-worm, both of which have long been known from the Fijian group, there is but one record in the literature concerning a haematozoan from an animal of these islands. We owe this record to Donovan (1920), who, in an account of simian malaria in India, mentioned finding Plasmodium in the blood of "the Fijian flying fox," but did not elaborate any further on this information.

I am indebted to Dr. J. H. Lawrie Newnham, of Suva, for sending me blood smears from the fruit bat Pteropus nawaiensis (Gray) in July, 1948, and for his -many kindnesses during my visit to Fiji in May and June, 1949; and have pleasure in acknowledging the assistance of the Commanding Officer, Royal New Zealand Air Force Station, Lauthala Bay, throughout the course of this visit. Invaluable aid was also furnished by the Fijian Agricultural Department authorities. Mr. C. W. McCann, of the Dominion Museum, Wellington, kindly identified the reptiles from which smears were obtained.