Mr. H. J. Carter on Microscopic Filaridse. 101 



(which latter may be seen passing through it), and has nothing 

 to do with the cahbre of the alimentary canal (figs. 29, 30). It 

 is at this point that the oesophagus joins the intestine, after 

 which the latter continues of the same diameter throughout the 

 body, or until it meets the rectum. Not having Dujardin's 

 ' Histoire d^Helminthes/ nor indeed any of the standard works 

 on the subject, I state this with much diffidence, and can only 

 vouch for the truth of what I have seen myself in this respect, 

 and which will be found delineated in the illustrations. It is 

 not improbable that the first part of the intestine may be a little 

 larger than the rest ; but, if so, the difference is so slight that it 

 could only be appreciated if the whole canal were seen at once, 

 Vi^hich it cannot be, as the magnifying power which is required 

 to bring the intestine into view will only admit a small portion 

 of the worm into the field at the same time. 



Formerly I stated that in the microscopic Filaridse the he- 

 patic oil-globules were secreted, in part at least, by the peritoneal 

 lining of the muscular coat ; but latterly I have found that there 

 is a distinct peritoneal membrane over those which surround the 

 intestine, thus cutting them off entirely from the peritoneal 

 cavity. It is to this membrane that I have applied the term of 

 '' intestinal sheath ;'^ and so firmly are the globules held between 

 it and the intestine, that, even after the whole is forced out of 

 the body by pressure, the oil-globules do not escape until the 

 intestine and its sheath are torn across, when they gradually 

 flow forth from between the two individually, and not enclosed 

 in cells, as those round the intestine of the Naidina, which 

 are so easily pressed ofi" into the peritoneal cavity, that there 

 does not appear to be any membrane at all between them and 

 this cavity in these worms. When, however, we go to the pos- 

 terior portion of the intestine in Urolabes palustris (fig. II m), 

 which is uncovered by the hepatic layer (or, at least, where the 

 oil-globules are very scantily present), there they are no doubt 

 grouped in cells, as they are seen in the Naidina, and, what is 

 more, leave the intestine under pressure, and move off into the 

 peritoneal cavity. What becomes of the lines of oil- globules on 

 the peritoneal surface of the muscular coat, I have not been able 

 to determine, — that is, whether they have any connexion with 

 the hepatic layer, or are merely fatty accumulations. 



Dujardin also applies the term " bifid uterus '^ to the female 

 organs of generation ; but as there is no placenta, I prefer the 

 term oviduct or fallopian tube for the low^r parts, and so on 

 upwards, as described under Urolabes palustris. No doubt the 

 uterus and the fallopian tube here are in one, and the ovary and 

 ovisac also ; but while it is desirable to apply the term " ovary^' 

 to the whole in the higher animals, it is equally desirable not 



