RESEARCHES IN HELMINTHOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY. 1 33 

 (August, 1874. No. 405. See Bibliography.] 



On a Parasitic Worm of the House-fly. — Prof. Leidy remarked that 

 since it had become well known that many parasitic worms passed 

 different stages of development within several different animals, he 

 had from time to time sought for the sources from whence the more 

 common thread worms obtained entrance into the human bodj- , but 

 thus far without success. The Trichina spiralis, discov^ered in man 

 in 1833 by Mr. Hilton, and described and named by Prof. Owen in 

 1835. was first found in the hog by Prof. Leidy in 1846 (see Proc, 

 A. N. S., iii, 108), but it was not until some years subsequently that 

 it was determined that man and the hog acted reciprocally as hosts 

 for the Trichina in its different stages of development. 



In examining various common animals of our household. Prof. 

 Leidy had found a thread- worm infesting the common house-fly. 

 The worm is from a line to the tenth of an inch long, and lives in 

 the proboscis of the fly. It was found in numbers from one to three 

 in about one fly in five. The parasite was first di.scovered in the 

 house-fly in India by the English naturalist, Mr. H. J. Carter, who 

 described it under the name of Filaria flfiiscce, and suggested the 

 opinion that it might be the source of the Guinea worm, Filaria 

 niedinensis, in man. Mr. Carter states that he found from two to 

 twenty of the worms in one fly of three. Dr. Diesing referred the 

 parasite to a new genus with the name of Habroncnta ninsccE. The 

 singular position in which the worm lives suggests the xa-AX\y unsus- 

 pected places we have to search to find the parents or offspring of 

 our own para.sites. 



[January, 1875. No. 416. See Bibliography.] 



O71 a Fujigiis in a Flamingo — Prof. Leidy remarked that a pair of 

 Flamingoes had recently died in the Garden of the Zoological So- 

 ciety at Fairmount Park. Dr. Chapman, who had dissected the 

 birds, called his attention to the diseased condition of the lungs of 

 one of them, the other not being affected in this respect. The pos- 

 terior part of the lungs on both sides, contiguous to the abdominal 

 air sacs, was occupied by an indurated brown substance, in striking 

 contrast with the usual bright roseate hue of the neighboring pul- 

 monary tissue. An incision made into the indurated substance 

 exhibited a brown compact surface with greenish-black dots which 

 corresponded with the bronchial tubes. On microscopical examina- 

 tion the substance was found to be pervaded with a fungous vegeta- 

 tion, and the greenish-black dots were due to the fruit heads pro- 

 fusely covered with colored spores. 



