34 



HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE ■ G OSSIP. 



Parasite of COD (Gadus morrhua) taken from the 

 outside of the gill (there is another parasite which 

 infests its back). — The tail is composed of two tubes, 

 finely marked, which commence at the end of the 

 animal at each side, and gradually narrow until they 

 meet. These tubes are nearly as long as the body. 



The Gurnard [Trigla hirundo) has parasites : 

 this one was taken from the eye, to which it fastens 

 itself by the large wheel-like sucker ; it then bends 

 its body until it brings the small rings at the end of 

 the animal on the fish, and so jerks itself along. I 

 have drawn one end of the large sucker, as seen undei 



Fig. iS. Parasite of a Ling; 3-inch object ; size, -A- x T * T ; pale yellow and pink spots, with 



a dark brownish-pink eye. 



The size of the specimen is -fa of an inch, and the 

 objective used in this instance was i^-inch, with C 

 eyepiece. 



Fig. 19. Parasite of Gurnard. — This 

 parasite infests the eye of the fish : it is 

 a milky-white in colour and \ inch long ; 

 it moves about like a caterpillar ; i^-inch 

 A eyepiece. 



End of sucker 

 through a J-inch. 



Parasite of Ling {Molva lota). — The integument 

 of this parasite is covered with small spots and 

 lines, and the body is of a dense opal-white. An 

 indistinct oesophagus (on account of the thickness 

 of the animal) can be traced from the eyespots to the 

 stomach. The latter is composed of a spiral arrange- 

 ment of tubes, and marked with cross-lines, the same 

 as the antenna of the Lobster. It is a pretty sight 

 to watch the circulation in these vessels. At the 

 dorsal end is a rather large cavity, which I take to 

 be the ovary. The size of this parasite is -f'$ x -fa, 

 and examined through a 3-inch objective. It was 

 taken from the back of the fish. 



Fig. 20. Parasite of a 

 Cod ; ii-inch ; size, fg '•' 

 opal-white, with a pink 

 eye-spot and dots. 



a i-inch objective. The length of this parasite is 

 about -]- inch, and perfectly white. 



WHITE MITES. 



DURING the month of June, 1877, whilst driv- 

 ing in the countiy, I observed a black poplar 

 tree evidently suffering from the ravages of insects ; 

 I therefore stopped the vehicle, and got out to ex- 

 amine. I found the tree bored in many places by the 

 larva; of the Goat-moth (Cossus ligniperdd), three of 

 which I secured. A considerable portion of the bark 

 was loose, and the sap kept this quite wet, the 

 peculiar smell produced by the larva? being very 

 evident. On removing a portion of the bark where 

 it was moist with sap, I found it covered with a 

 moving mass, consisting of myriads of very peculiar 

 White Mites. On examining them under the micro- 

 scope, I found them to differ from any Mites I had 

 ever seen, nor could I find any notice of similar ones 

 in any work to which I could refer. The females, 

 which were in the greatest abundance, were egg- 

 shaped, the larger end being in front, and the sides 

 towards the posterior, somewhat bent in. On slightly 

 compressing them, they were seen to contain eggs. 

 The abdomen was of a milk- white colour, and the legs 

 reddish-brown. On crushing one of the Mites con- 

 taining eggs, one or two young ones escaped from the 

 almost mature ova ; these had only six legs, one of 

 the hind pair being missing. The males, which were 

 few in number compared with the females, were very 

 peculiar in appearance ; their bodies were less in size, 

 flatter, and the legs longer and stouter in proportion 

 than those of the females ; the posterior pair not used 



