J. H. Woodger 351 



Detailed descriptions of the adult of this species will also.be found in 

 Ransom (5) and Cohn(2). 



As to Davainea cesticillus, the second species I have mentioned, 

 J. E. Ackert(i), in a preliminary communication, has described experi- 

 ments in which he succeeded in infecting young chickens by feeding 

 them on flies that had themselves been fed on the eggs of this tape- worm. 

 He figures the hexacanth embryo but not the cysticercoid. 



It will be seen therefore that it is impossible to identify my cestode 

 with either of the above from the stages I have described. At the time 

 my observations were made no literature bearing on the subject was 

 available, and the possibility of the fowl being the definitive host was 

 not considered. 



It is hoped in publishing these notes that they will direct attention 

 to the occurrence of this parasite in Mesopotamia and that they may be 

 of assistance to anyone who is in a position to pursue the matter further. 



I wish to express my thanks to Professor R. T. Leiper, D.Sc, M.D., 

 for much help and criticism in the preparation of these notes for publica- 

 tion; and to Capt. P. A. Buxton for the use of material found in the 

 course of his own dissections, and for constant assistance in the examina- 

 tion of experimental animals. 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 



(1) Ackert, J. E. On the Life Cycle of the Fowl Cestode, Davainea cesticillus. 



Journ. of Parasitology (Urbania), vol. v, p. 41, Sept. 1918, 1 plate. 



(2) Cohn, L. Zur Anatomie und Systematik der Vogelcestoden. Abh. der Kaiserl. 



Leop. Carol. Deutschen Ahad. der Naturforscher, Bd. lxxix, Nr. 3, 1901. 



(3) Gbassi and Rovelli. Enibryologische Forschungen an Cestoden. Centralbl. f. 



Bakteriol. 1, Abt. 5, 1889. 



(4) Ricerche embriologiche sui Cestodi. Atti Ace. vol. iv, Serie 4, Mem. u. 



Catania 1891. 



(5) Ransom. Tapeworms of American chickens. Rep. Bar. Anim. Industry, 1904-5. 



(6) Stiles, C. W. Tapeworms of Poultry. U.S. Dept. of Agric. Bureau of Anim. 



Indust. Bull. 12, 1896. 



