8 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP [Biolog. 



The larvse are from three to three and a half lines long, and from one to one 

 and a quarter lines broad ; demi-elliptical ; articnli strongly marked, every- 

 where minutely shagreened ; body anteriorly subacute, posteriorly obtuse. 

 Head bipapillate, with a pair of hooks projecting from the mouth. Articuli 

 furnished dorsally and laterally, each with six long, posteriorly divergent, 

 flexible, compound spines ; ventral segments transversely subdivided, the 

 posterior subdivision furnished with a transverse row of papilla?. Caudal arti- 

 culus dorsally sloping, furnished with a pair of prominent spiracular tubercles, 

 and fringed with six spines. Anus ventral. 



The same larva Dr. L. had observed in another case, accompanied with the 

 ordinary phenomena of cholera morbus. 



No. 3, of which there are nine specimens in the vial, are of especial interest, 

 as being the larva? of a Bot-fly obtained from man. These specimens were 

 procured by our friend, the accurate naturalist, Dr. Le Conte, during the sum- 

 mer of 1857, in Honduras, Central America. They are part of a larger number 

 of specimens obtained by Dr. L. from his travelling companions. Dr Le Conte 

 had not observed the perfect insect, nor was it known when the latter deposited 

 its eggs. The larvje were usually found beneath the skin of the shoulders, 

 breast, arms, buttocks, and thighs, and were suspected to have been intro- 

 duced when the persons were bathing. Thomas Say was the first to describe 

 the larva of a bot-fly from man ; the specimen having been taken by Dr. Brick, 

 from his own leg, while in South America. 



Recently, Keferstein (Verb. d. Zool. Bot. Vereins, vi, 1856, 637) has pre- 

 pared an elaborate essay in which he discusses the question as to the existence 

 of a true Oestrus hominis. The result of the discussion appears to be that the 

 latter does not exist, but that the oestrus larva obtained from man is that of 

 the Cuterebra noxialis, which is especially obnoxious to domestic cattle. 



The specimens of larva? of Dr. Le Conte, however, appear to differ from those 

 generally referred to by Keferstein, but agree with that described by Say, and 

 are not like those described and figured by Goudot, in the An. d. Sc. Nat., 

 1845, Zool. iii., 221. 



According to F. Midler, quoted by Keferstein, the deposit of the egg of the 

 bot-fly in man is very painful. Dr. Le Conte informs us that his companions 

 were not aware of the time when the eggs of the larvse obtained by him were 

 deposited in their body. He also states the presence of the larva gave rise to 

 comparatively little uneasiness. 



These larva? are from two and a half to five lines long : clavate, incurved ; 

 anteriorly ovate, from three-fifths to one and a half lines wide ; posteriorly 

 cylindro-conical, from one-fifth to half a line wide. Head bipapillate, with a 

 pair of hooks projecting from the mouth. Succeeding three articuli covered 

 with minute, black, uncinate spines ; the next three articuli each provided 

 with large, black, conical, uncinate spines, with a broad striated base and the 

 sharp apex directed backward, arranged in a double row dorsally and forming 

 a single row ventrally. Remainder of the body abruptly narrowed, indistinctly 

 articulated, and smooth, except the last pair of articuli, which are separated by 

 a constriction, and are covered with minute recurved black hooks. The last 

 articulus is oblate spheroidal, enclosing a pair of spiracles and the anal aper- 

 ture bounded by a pair of papilla?. 



Dr. Leidy further called the attention of the Department to a drawing of pus- 

 like corpuscles, which he had obtained from an abscess in the adductor muscle 

 of an oyster. The corpuscles were spherical, granular, and nearly uniform in 

 size. Acetic acid rendered them paler ; did not evolve a compound nucleus, 

 but rendered evident one or two isolated oil-like nuclei. 



1. Dr. I. I. Hayes read a paper entitled On the Relations existing between 

 Fova and the capacity of Man to resist low Temperatures. 



This paper was recommended for publication in a Medical Journal. The 

 following is an abstract of the contents : 



[April, 



