2^6 DE. T. S. COBBOLD ON TIIE PAEASITES OF ELEPHANTS. 



nor even the vaginal prolongation of the uterine coils. Their position, however, can he 

 perfectly well understood from the position of the parts actually seen. I have not 

 attempted to figure the yolk-sacs ; hut the illustration shows a portion of the uterine coils 

 and their contained ova. As in the common fluke, the eggs are oval, and furnished 

 with a lid at one end of the shell. They are comparatively small, affording an average 

 of _i_ f ari inch in length and -g^y in breadth. Dr. Fitz doubts the existence of any 

 true reproductive papilla, but speaks of a pocket or depression midway between the 

 pharynx and the ventral sucker. Certainly the depression referred to is occasionally 

 very marked ; but in the centre of this depression, even in the retracted state of the 

 cirrhus, there is a papillary eminence, which may be seen with an ordinary hand-lens. 

 The exserted cirrhus was not seen by Dr. Eitz ; consequently he could not confirm my 

 statement as to its remarkable length. As shown in my figures, this whip-like organ 

 nearly equals in length the transverse semidiameter of the body. 



In my previous account of this worm the invariable distention of the digestive tubes 

 by inspissated bile derived from the host has been remarked. Dr. Fitz noticed the same 

 thing in Jackson's specimens. Neither in the common fluke nor in the fluke of the 

 Giraffe has this natural injection been found to be so perfect. For anatomical purposes 

 it renders any artificial distention of the ducts quite superfluous. 



Note. — The foregoing observations complete my account of the helminths properly so 

 called. Although, without question, as regards their zoological significance and the 

 production of injury to Elephants this class of parasites holds the chief place, yet I 

 cannot omit all notice of the Arthropodous parasites. Doubtless much more remains to 

 be done in reference to the insects and mites that attack Elephants either as parasites 

 or as tormentors. The burden of this research, however, must fall rather on the ento- 

 mologist than on the helminthologist. Arguing from what is already known respecting 

 the ectozoal Arthropoda of other pachyderms, I should suppose that we have here a wide 

 field for further discovery. When it is considered how large a number of cestridean 

 larva; take up their abode in herbivorous quadrupeds, to say nothing of the ectozoal 

 Anoplura and Trachearia, it seems strange that not more than three or four arthropodous 

 parasites are at present known to infest Elephants. These I proceed to notice. 



12. Gastrophiltjs elephantis, Cobb. 



(Estrus of the Elephant, Cobbold, Catalogue of Entozoa in the Museum of the Royal College of 



Surgeons, 1806, p. 24. 

 (Estrus elephantis, Steel, Med. Examiner, 1878, p. 886. 



Head and neck of the larva turned forwards, prominent, spinous ; epicranial lobes 

 armed at the tip. Maxilla? large ; mandibles concealed. Somites of the body all more 

 or less armed, the hook-circles of the middle somites supporting five rows of spines, 

 of which the two upper rows are more conspicuous in consequence of the relatively 

 greater size of the separate spines ; penultimate somite with very few spines, and the 

 last somite nearly destitute of them. Caudal lobes furnished with six prominent 



