VOL. III.] Recent Literature. 271 



R. H. Lawrence contributes " Further Notes on Birds of the Gray's 

 Harbor Region, Washington," with annotation on about forty- 

 species. "Birds of Southwestern New Mexico,'"' by A. W. An- 

 thony, has brief notices of 127 species and subspecies. 



In General Notes, Ereunetes occidentalis is recorded from Con- 

 necticut; Coccyzus americanus occidentalis from Clarke County, 

 Washington; Vireo olivaceus inhabiting British Columbia and Wash- 

 ington. Mr. Lucas makes an interesting item concerning the 

 raising of English sparrows by electric light. This pest having 

 been seen catching insects at night about an electric light and carry- 

 ing them to their young. "Raising vegetables," he says "by 

 electric light may be a good thing, but raising English sparrows in 

 this manner is of more than doubtful utility." w.E.B. 



In the Scientific Memoirs of Medical Officers of the Army of India, 

 edited by W. R. Rice, Calcutta, 1892, part vii, we find five differ- 

 ent papers on intestinal worms infesting horses, sheep and man. 

 The first paper is by G. M. F. Giles on Some Observations on the 

 Life History of Sclerostoniuni tetracanthuvi Diessing. This intestinal 

 parasite is a strongyloid nematode closely related to Dochmius duo- 

 denalis, which infests the human system. Sclerostomum tetracan- 

 ihuni, is a small worm about half an inch in length, but as it occurs in 

 enormous quantities — several buckets full having been taken from a 

 single horse — it causes grave disorders and generally death. The 

 disease caused by this parasite is in India known as " Surra," in 

 Europe as epizooty, and appears to be prevalent at times in almost 

 every county in the world. 



Sclerostomum infests only the upper half of the large intestine, 

 the ova only being dropped with the dung. The eggs develop only 

 under the influence of rain and moisture, producing a tiny, white 

 and semi-stransparent worm, the Rhabdite-stage of the parasite in 

 question. These Rhabdite worms feed and live in the dung until 

 they become sexually fertile when they proceed to grass and weeds. 

 This transition can only be accomplished under the influence of rain 

 or abundent moisture under any form. The mature male Rhabditis 

 attains a length of 1.7 mm., two-ninths of the length being occupied 

 by the body proper, the remaining seven-ninths consisting of a 

 long hair-like tail. • The female Rhabditis attains a length of 2.25 

 mm., but is otherwise similar to the male. One or more genera- 

 tions are produced by this stage. Finally the ova of the Rhabdite 



