RESEARCHES IN HELMINTHOLOGY AND PARASITOLOGY. 211 



Prof. Leidy further exhibited portions of two intestines of the 

 same fish, with numerous attached worms pertaining to Echino- 

 rhynchus proteus, which infested many fishes, both of fresh and salt 

 water, of Europe. It is not only a frequent and abundant but a con- 

 stant parasite of our Striped Bass. It ranges from 5 lines to an inch 

 in length. The young ones are white ; the older have the bod>- 

 yellow, bright orange, or brownish orange, with a white neck and 

 proboscis, which together are one-fourth the entire length. Diesing 

 attributes to the probo.scis 8 to 10 rows of hooks, but Dujardin gives 

 double the number, and this accords with the condition observed in 

 our specimens. The parasite lives in the large intestine with the 

 proboscis and neck together embedded in the wall and the body sus- 

 pended in the cavity. The proboscis and bulbous commencement of 

 the neck together protrude externally and form on the outside of the 

 intestine brown pyriform tumors, giving to the organ a peculiar tuber- 

 cular appearance. The worms exhibit the following characters: Body 

 widest at the commencement, where it is rounded and slightly con- 

 stricted from the rest, which tapers to the posterior obtuse end. Pro- 

 Ijoscis cylindrical but expanded at the middle and base. Neck very 

 long, bulbous at the commencement, becoming narrower and cylin- 

 drical and a little dilated at the base ; smooth throughout. Length of 

 a large one 24 mm. ; proboscis and neck 6 mm. ; proboscis 1.25 mm. 

 long, o. 175 thick; 0.25 at middle expansion ; bulb of the neck i mm., 

 narrow part below 0.375 thick, at base 0.5 thick. Body at com- 

 mencement 2 mm. thick, near po.sterior end i mm. thick. 



[March, 1888. No. 558. See Bibliography.] 



Treniatodes of the Miiskrat.^^roi. Leidy stated that in the collec- 

 tion of the Academy there is a vial labeled, " Worms from the duo- 

 denum of the Muskrat." There are 25 worms, and in their present 

 condition they are pale brown, bordered by dark brown, and meas- 

 ure from 12 to 18 mm. long by i to 1.5 mm. broad. If not identi- 

 cal, they are closely allied to Distomiim ec/iiiiatiim, which in the 

 mature state lives in ducks and other water birds and in the larval 

 state in fresh-water snails. The Muskrat eats the latter, so that it 

 may likewise become infested in the same manner as the ducks, and 

 this would also seem to make it probable that the parasite is the 

 same. Dujardin, Wedl, and others describe D. cchinatuvi as hav- 

 ing the fore part of the body echinate, which is not the case with 

 the Distome of the Muskrat, though in both the head is armed in 

 the same manner and with the same number of spines. Its charac- 

 ters are as follows : 



