RESEARCHES IN HELMINTHOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY. 149 



rations it would appear as if the peculiar bugs of the animals men- 

 tioned did not reciprocally infest their hosts. 



[March, 1878. No 456. See Bibliography.] 



A Louse of the Pelican. — Prof. Leidy exhibited a portion of the 

 pouch of a pelican, with several groups of large lice adhering to the 

 lining membrane. The specimen, suspended in alcohol, had been 

 presented to him some years since by his late friend, Prof. Jeffries 

 Wyman, who obtained it while in Florida from the white pelican, 

 Pelecamis trachyrhynchus. 



Later Dr. Elliott Coues, I". S. A., had submitted to his inspection 

 specimens of the same louse, which he had obtained from the inte- 

 rior of the pouch of a white pelican from the Red River of the North. 



The Louse pertains to the Mallophaga, or Fleece- eaters, and ap- 

 pears to be an undescribed species. The name of Menopon pcrale 

 was given to it. It is 2^ lines in length and of a chestnut-brown 

 color. The head is broader than long, semilunar, with a black 

 spot on each side in advance of the pair of eyes. Prothorax nar- 

 rower than the head, with a lateral conical point. Abdomen nearly 

 twice the length of the head and thorax together ; terminal seg- 

 ment rounded and with a tuft of hairs on each side. Mandibles 

 strong and black. 



[May, 1878. No. 457. See Bibliography.] 



On Parasitic Worms in the Shad. — Prof. Leidy stated that during 

 the last month he had received letters and specimens from New York, 

 Trenton, Norfolk, and elsewhere, with information that the shad, 

 this season, was much infested with worms. Two of the writers, 

 physicians, had expressed apprehension in regard to the parasites, 

 and supposed that they had traced .several cases of illness to the use 

 of shad which they suspected had been infested with the worms. 



The worm has long been known in Europe as a parasite of the 

 herring, mackerel, cod, salmon, and other food fishes. It is the 

 Filaria capsularia of Rudolphi, or the Agavwncma capsular ia of 

 Diesing. Prof. L. had described it in the Proceedings of this Academy 

 in 1856, from the .shad and herring, and had repeatedly observed it 

 in the same fishes every year since. It usually infests the internal 

 organs, and is often ob.served excapsulated in a close coil upon the 

 roes, the intestines, and the liver. It is from half an inch to an inch 

 or more long. Most individuals have a few of the parasites, and 

 sometimes they are exceedingly numerous. They appear not to 

 affect the health of the fishes unless they are very numerous, when 



