Coss—Nematodes, mostly Australian and Fyian. 287 
the nerve-ring. The cinctured tail is conoid to the terminus, where it is one-fifth as 
wide as at the anus. There appear to be no caudal glands. The eggs are two-thirds 
as long as the body is wide and two-thirds as wide as long. The reflexed portion of 
the ovary reaches two-fifths the way back to the vulva and contains upwards of a 
dozen developing ova which in the distal part are arranged in several rows. The 
male has not yet been seen. I have made a number of sketches of the anatomy of 
this species ; these are reproduced on Pl. xxxix. 
Hab.—Soil about banana plants, Fiji, 1891, not common. I am not positive 
that this worm is the same as that first seen by Prof. Biitschli in Germany ; however 
the resemblance is so great that I do not feel justified in applying a new name, 
especially as the male has yet to be seen. 
2. P. australis, n.sp. fegi-gsae—3 mm «The plain transverse strize of the 
cuticle are easily resolvable with a moderate power. The hairs, which occur through- 
out the length of the animal, are very inconspicuous except on the tail. The 
eylindroid neck terminates in a truncate head bearing ten setze, each about half as long 
as the head is wide and arranged as usual, the members of the submedian pairs being 
subequal. The larger of the cephalic setze just mentioned are of peculiar form, the 
diameter of the hair suddenly decreasing near the tip, the effect being that the hair 
appears as if encased ina sheath. There are papillae round the mouth. Small lateral 
organs appear to me to be placed about as far behind the base of the pharynx as the 
latter is behind the anterior extremity. Their nature I could not make out. The 
short prismoid pharynx is nearly half as wide as the head and is covered over by the 
lips. The cylindroid cesophagus is half as wide as the neck. The thick-walled 
granular intestine is two-thirds as wide as the body and is separated from the 
cesophagus by a distinct and deep constriction. The cardia is transparent and gives 
rise to a pseudo-bulb. The tail is conoid from the depressed anus but tapers more 
rapidly at first than towards the end. It appeared that tail glands were present, the 
terminus beg narrow but convex-conoid as if furnishing an outlet for the secretion 
of caudal glands, and on that account such glands may be supposed to be present, 
though not seen. The eggs are two-thirds as wide as the body, and five times as long 
as wide, and are probably deposited before segmentation begins: 
Hab.—Roots of plants, Moss Vale, New South Wales, Australia. 
Genus PLECTUS, Bastian. 
: : : 46 15° 26° 49° 87: D s 1 
P. insignis, n.sp. g3—3—aa ay 27 mm. The cuticle is traversed by plain trans- 
verse striz easily made out with a lens of medium power. Short hairs occur 
throughout the length of the worm. The neck is conoid,—somewhat convex conoid 
