35- 



secured an adequate supply from Norfolk, and began breeding 

 them in November, 1908, on tame white rats, and soon had 

 thousands available. He found, in addition to the trypanosomes, 

 other parasites one which infected the Malpighian corpuscles, 

 and another the heart of the ilea, and, lastly, in the body-cavity 

 he noticed the Cysticerci he now exhibited. They were easily 

 missed, as they much resembled fragments of ovary. He found 

 these in nearly half of the specimens examined. 



All tapeworms have two stages in their life-history. The sexual 

 worm produces eggs in the intestine of a vertebrate. This is 

 the real tapeworm. The eggs pass out with the faeces and con- 

 taminate the food of another animal, not necessarily a vertebrate. 

 In this intermediate host we get the bladder-worm {Cysticercus). 

 As a rule, the two hosts are so related that the bladder-w^orm 

 host is eaten by the host of the sexual worm. In the tapeworms 

 most common to man, the intermediate stage is found in pork, 

 beef and fish, and, similarly, that common in the cat comes from 

 the mouse. The dog and rabbit are similarly placed. The 

 President hoped to determine what tapeworm the Cysticercus 

 exhibited gave rise to. He thought it was probably Hymenolepis 

 diminuta. 



The Hon. Secretary read a note on Zootliamniwni geniculatum, 

 communicated by Mr. J. Stevens, F.R.M.S., of Exeter. The 

 writer referred to the description and drawing of this beauti- 

 ful Infusorian by Mr. W. Ayrton, who first discovered it, in 

 Journal Q.M.C, Series 2, Vol. VIII., p. 407, Plate 21, December 

 19th, 1902. Mr. Ayrton had informed him that up to July, 

 1907, he had not heard of the species being found elsewhere 

 than in the locality of the River Waveney, Suffolk. The writer, 

 however, had found it in 1907, 1908, and on October 30th this 

 year in the E-iver Exe and neighbourhood. Mr. Ayrton 

 says that the specimens forw^arded to him are undoubtedly 

 Z. geniculatum. 



Mr. F. P. Smith communicated a " Note on the Mounting 

 of Spider Dissections as Microscopical Objects." The author 

 said he offered a few hints as to a means whereby slides may be 

 prepared in which the form and structure of the objects con- 

 cerned are faithfully preserved and exhibited. He insisted that 

 the effect of the attempt to " clear" a spider with liquor potassae 

 or any similar reagent is promptly to ruin it so far as systematic 



