By Joseph Ewart, M. D., Trofessor of Physiology, Medical College of Bengal. Among the many substantial and enduring benefits conferred upon India by English rule, the introduction of the " quinineyielding" cinchonas will not be considered by posterity the least important. Already the enterprise has passed beyond the boundary line of an experiment, and reached the goal of success. A few short ye...

Immature and adult stages of Monopelopia mongpuense sp. n. from phytotelmata of Cedrus deodara (Lamb.) in Darjeeling are described along with biological notes. Key to the adult males of all species of the genus Monopelopia Fittkau is also presented. This genus is recorded for the first from Indian subcontinent.

A new Oriental species of water crickets, Velia (Cesavelia) mitrai sp. nov. is described from the vicinity of Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. It was collected from a shaded stream with slow current, situated at an altitude of 2006 m a.s.l. within the Neora Valley National Park. This species is the fourth member of this genus known from India.

Tangius indicus sp. n. (Batrisitae: Batrisini) is described and illustrated from the Indian States of Meghalaya (Khasi Hills, type locality) and West Bengal (Darjeeling). Specimens of the new species are similar to those of the recently described T. glabellus Yin & Li from Tibet, Southwest China, and can be separated only by minor differences of the male features.

Sikkim and Darjeeling Himalayan region is characterized by a rich floral diversity and an equally rich ethnomedicinal tradition. Herbal medicine is the dominant system of medicine practiced by the local tribes of this region for the treatment of diabetes. During the course of the present studies it was found that 37 species of plants belonging to 28 families are used as antidiabetic agents in t...

The present paper provides a description of the male caste and re-description of the worker and queen castes of the poorly known ant species Lasiusalienoflavus Bingham, 1903. This species has hitherto been reported only from the Himalayas, and the present data are also based on specimens collected in the north-western part of the mountain range. Likewise other Himalayan ants, this species also ...

Social responses to Koro illness was studied from an urban population (n = 118) of Darjeeling district of West Bengal State, during and after the North Bengal Koro epidemic. The prevalent social cognition of Koro as a positive illness paradigm, both among the Koro-affected and non-affected families, was the important social dynamics that helped the epidemic to spread as the illness in the regio...

Arctic, Antarctic and inaccessible lofty regions of Himalayas, which are geographically diverse areas and have been a constant source of inspiration, envisages a challenging field of study 'by early adirelrturers and scientists of the world. Characteristics of ice obtained at Arctic and Antarctic do not possess similar properties. Even the salient properties of snow and ice of western and centr...

High-elevation valleys in dry areas of the Himalayas are among the most extreme, yet least explored environments on Earth. These barren, rocky valleys are subjected to year-round temperature fluctuations across the freezing point and very low availability of water and nutrients, causing previous workers to hypothesize that no photoautotrophic life (primary producers) exists in these locations. ...