ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 615 



probably a secondary infection. The authors point out that the Hl)era- 

 tion of the peri-enteric fluid through the lesions might have a dangerous 

 effect on the host. 



Degeneration of Nematode Spermatozoa.* — B. Roraeis has studied 

 the degeneration of the chondriosomes in those spermatozoa of Ascaris 

 meijaJocephala which pass into the uterus, but do not succeed in 

 fertilizing ova. The protoplasm shows pseudopodium-like outflowing 

 processes, in which chondriosomes may be observed. The chondrio- 

 somes come to lie outside the cells. Those set free in tlie uterine 

 secredon may be transformed into rodlets, then into brown corpuscles, 

 finally into an amorphous secretion (chondriolysis)). The phenomenon 

 is like that observed in the mitochondria of glandular cells. The 

 chondriosomes which are set free near ova are disposed on the surface 

 of the egg-envelopes, forming with the uterus secretion the outermost 

 egg-membrane. The chondriosomes which are set free in the seminal 

 pouch may unite with the surface of uterus-cells, and be absorbed l)y 

 them. There are pecuHar phenomena of coalescence between degene- 

 rating spermatozoa in the seminal pouch and the uterus-cells, leading 

 on to complete absorption. 



Development of Sheep Strongyle.f — M. Neveu-Lemaire finds that 

 Dicty ocaul us filar ia (Rudolphi), the common strongyle of the windpipe 

 and bronchi in sheep, develops in the soil along with the excrement of 

 the sheep. After a moult it passes into a second stage, which may be 

 in water or in damp earth, or, accidentally, in earthworms. 



Fourth Moult in Parasitic Nematodes.^ — L. G. Seurat has shown 

 that Spiroptera sanguinoleata Rud. reaches the interior of its definitive 

 host, the dog, as an encapsuled larva which has moulted twice. Liberated 

 in the dog's stomach, it traverses the walls, gets into the blood stream, 

 and causes tumours on the walls of the aorta. In these it grows, moults 

 for the third time, and passes into a fourth stage. This fourth period, 

 which immediately precedes the adult state, is marked liy vigorous growth 

 and by the development of the gonads. When the adult size is almost 

 reached, a new cuticle appears below the old one ; a fourth and last 

 moult occurs. 



Genital Apparatus of Gongylonema.§— L. G. Seurat describes the 

 genital peculiarities in the females of G. scutatuni Muell., which is very 

 common in the sheep and goat in Algeria, and of G. pulchrum Molin, 

 which is common in the gullet of the hedgehog {Erinaceus ahjirus Duv.) 

 of the North African steppes. It will be remembered that the Nema- 

 todes of this genus live in sinuous burrows in the mucosa with only the 

 head protruding. The vulva lies in the posterior part of the body. A 

 musculo-epithelial tube of relatively great length (20 mm. in G. pulchrum') 

 plays an important part in the expulsion of the eggs. The genital 

 apparatus is distinctively different in the two species. 



* Arch. Mikr. Anat.. Ixxx. (1912) pp. 129-70 (2 pis.), 

 t Bull. Soc. Zool. France, xxxvii. (1912) pp. 238-41 (15 figs.). 

 X C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris, Ixxiii. (1912) pp. 279-81 (2 figs.). 

 § C.R. Soc. Biol. Paris. Ixxiii. (1912) pp. 276-9 (5 figs.). 



