236 Gilruth, Stveet, and Bodd : 



a leucocyte, in which a deeply-stained, rosette-like mass of 

 chromatin (?) was present close beside the normal leucocyte 

 nucleus. The condition of the host-cells here is somewhat com- 

 parable to that found by Sambon (1907 p. 284) in Coluber 

 corals var. couperi, though he does not mention any such 

 degeneration of the host stroma ; and further the bean-shaped 

 forms of H. rarefociens, Sambon, are considerably smaller than 

 many of those met with here. Moreover the parasite in H. 

 megalocystis (n.sp.), so far as we could find, does not show any 

 of tlie long narrow forms found in H. rarefaciens, and unless 

 Fig. 8 represents some stage of the former, we could find no 

 parasites in the leucocj^tes of this specimen of Python spdotes 

 var. vdvityata. In view of these differences "from Sambon's 

 form, and of the different families of the hosts, we feel justified 

 in the meantime in regarding this as a new species. 



Ihe blood of this specimen shows large numbers of short 

 bacilli, with distinct capsule, often in long chains, and some- 

 times sporulating ; they were isolated, and grow readily in 

 ordinary media. 



3. Microfilaria gymnorhinae, n. sp. 

 (Plate XXX., Fi-s. 1-3). 



Host animal — Gyvinorhirut tibicen. 



Up to the present no blood-filariae appear to have been 

 found in the birds of Southern Australia, though adults of 

 Fdaria tricuspis, Fedtsch, have been recorded from 3 Ijirds 

 belonging to the Bismarck Archipelago to the Xorth of Australia 

 (Von Linstow, 1897, p. 283), of Filaria flabeUata, Yon Linst., 

 and Fdaria paradisea, Von Linst., from Paradisfd apoda 

 from the Aru Is., also lying to the North of Australia (Von 

 Linstow, 1888, pp. 9-11); Fdaria spp. from the "blood, peri- 

 toneal cavity, muscles of thigh and pericardium of 15 birds," 

 including the magpie, Gy/iuiorJiina tibicen (Bancroft. 1889, p. 

 58) : Fdaria sp. from Centropus ateralbus, Less., and Fih'.ria 

 sp. from Xinox odioaa, Scl., from the Bismarck Archipelago 

 (Von Linstow, 1897, p. 284). 



In the present case, we have found filariae in the blood of 

 8 magpies ((Jyui norhina tibicen) which died at the Melbourne 



