138 NATURAL HISTORY. 



associate his name with the Alga, as he is at present the President of 

 our Botany Section; and as I wish to mark the high sense of esteem 

 and respect I entertain for him as an accomplished and practical 

 naturalist, and as a kind and indefatigable worker in the interests 

 of humanity, I call the Alga Conferva Therm dis Birdw ;odii, and 

 so be it known in the weedy world. 



K. R. KIRTIKAR. 



NOTE ON FREQUENCY OF PARASITES IN INDIAN 



ARMY HORSES. 



By V. S. J. H. Steel, A.V.D., 



Supdt., Bombay Veterinary College and Hospital. 



In August 1884 I examined with care the bodies of twelve Lighfe 

 Cavalry horses destroyed on account of age or incurable injury at 

 Bangalore. The results are, in some respects, remarkable. Thus, no 

 doubt is left as to the richness of the zoological field explored by me ; 

 every one of these twelve horses contained large numbers of parasites 

 of two or more species. Further, a young mare, the only Australian 

 of the lot, had two forms of parasite which were not fou ;d in any 

 of the others ; this suggests the question as to whether she can have 

 brought those forms from the depot at Oossoor some two years 

 before, or from Australia some throe years before, her destruc- 

 tion. Again, certain parasites commonly seen during post- 

 mortems of horses were conspicuous by their absence ; echinococcus 

 cysts were not found in the liver, nor armed strongyles in the 

 anterior mesenteric artery, nor were any thread-worms present 

 in the respiratory passages, nor flukes in the liver. If well-fed and 

 cared-for horses were thus infested, how much more so must be 

 country ponies and horses "roughing it" out in the districts. All the 

 horses had been watered from the same tank ; had been standing 

 in open lines ; and had been similarly fed for the six months previous 

 to destruction. Their fodder mainly consisted of fresh Hariali or 

 Dhoob grass, more or less moist from washing, but fairby well cleaned 

 as regards removal of mud, dirt, and foreign grasses. Their gram 

 was boiled coolthee. 



