DE. T. S. COBBOLD ON THE PAEASITES OF ELEPHANTS. 



247 



papillae, two in front and four behind, numerous spines occurring in the space between 

 the papilla} and the border of the oval caudal plate. 



Length of the larva f to 1 inch. 

 Breadth -^ 6 of an inch. 



Sab. Stomach of Loxodonta africana and ~Elcphas indicus. 



When in the year 1865 I rearranged the Entozoa preserved in 

 the Hunterian Museum, I added a few new forms of (Estridean 

 larvae which had been presented to me by the late Mr. Andrew 

 Murray and by Dr. (now Sir John) Kirk. Amongst the ' bots ' obtained 

 during Livingstone's Zambesi expedition were several taken from the 

 stomach of a female Elephant shot by Dr. Kirk himself. Some of 

 these, with others from a Hartebeest, remain in my possession. Those 

 that I placed in the Hunterian Museum were entered in the Cata- 

 logue as donations from the eminent naturalists to whom I stood 

 indebted. 



Although hitherto undescribed, probably many Indian as well as 

 African sportsmen have encountered these parasites in slaughtered 

 Elephants. Be that as it may, no one appears to have had any 

 opportunity of comparing and identifying the * bots ' derived from 

 the widely dissimilar proboscidean pachyderms of the two countries 

 in question. In the autumn of 1878, one of the victims of the 



,',.,. Bot of Gastrophilus 



epidemic at Sanger's Circus fortunately supplied me with the means elephantis ( x 3 diam.). 

 of comparison. The longest of Dr. Kirk's specimens barely measured - x % of an inch, 

 whereas two of the specimens removed from Sanger's Elephant exceeded an inch in 

 length. At first sight probably few would hesitate to separate the bots of the Indian 

 and African Elephants, thus regarding them as the larval representatives of different 

 species of gad-fly. However, a careful examination of the somites, of the arrange- 

 ments and proportions of the spines, of the papillae, and of other characters, has con- 

 vinced me of their identity. Not only so ; the African and Indian Elephant bots, 

 though identical in themselves, differ from the bots hitherto found in the stomachs of 

 other animals. 



The Indian Elephant, a male, which yielded the specimens obtained in this country, 

 was examined by Veterinary-Surgeon Erederick Smith, R..H.A., and by Mr. Steel, to 

 whose memoir on the circus-epidemic allusion has already been made. Speaking of the 

 post-mortem results, Mr. Steel says: — "The very numerous bots (CEstrus elephantis) 

 were found in the stomach adhering to the lining membrane. They Avere, as a rule, 

 larger than the bots of the horse, and exhibited a greater degree of ferocity. As soon as 

 removed from the membrane they struggled violently ; and several grasped my finger 

 firmly with their booklets. The female animal died shortly afterwards ; but we had not 

 an opportunity of making a post mortem examination of her. A fourth Elephant died 

 about a week after delivery" [to Mr. Sanger]. Mr. Steel then goes on to speak of the 

 opinion which he gave in a court of law as to the cause of these animals' deaths ; but 



SECOND SERIES. 



31 



