76 SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
(4) Nyciotherus papillatus, n. sp 
The animal has the usual reniform appearance characteristic of 
the genus. Those taken from the large intestine of B. melanostictus 
measured ca. 120 vu. in length, whilst those from R. maculatus were 
distinctly larger, the largest attaining a length of 170 yu. In other 
respects they were identical. 
The pharynx extends to the median line, is sharply curved into an 
almost perfect semi-circle, and has a well-marked spiral twist. The 
anus opens just dorsally to a well-marked papilla at the extreme 
posterior end of the animal. There is one contractile vacuole, 
situated close to the anus. The meganucleus is in the usual position 
anteriorly, but appears to be reniform or horseshoe-shaped, with 
the ends directed ventrally, so that it appears to be ovoid when 
seen from the side. A micronucleus was not always seen, but 
was sometimes visible lying on the meganucleus. 
A curious little diverticulum of the pharynx just at its point of 
junction with the mouth was nearly always observable. It passes 
dorso-posteriorly for a very short distance, and then appears to end 
blindly. I have never seen this curious little structure in other 
species of the genus. 
OPALINA. 
Rana tigrina, as I have already noted, was found to harbour a 
multinucleate species of Opalina, which I observed in the living 
state only. A pretty species of Opalina was found in Rhacophorus 
maculatus at Peradeniya, and I was able to study it more carefully. 
As it seems to be new I propose the name— 
(5) Opalina virgula, n. sp.. 
for the organism. Its characteristics are as follows. The general 
shape of the body is that of a large flattened comma; that is to say, 
there is a large bulge on one side anteriorly (see fig. 17). It thus 
resembles O. obtrigona (parasitic in the European tree frog Hyla 
arborea) more closely than any other of the dozen or so species of 
Opalina hitherto described.* Some of the individuals are long and 
slender, and others are stouter and more rounded, but all have this 
general appearance. The body is flattened, 7.e., elliptical in trans- 
verse section, and the cilia are distributed over the body in lines, as 
in other species. Large individuals may measure 170 wu, or rather 
over, in length, and 50 yu in breadth at the broadest part of the 
anterior end. 
The animal is multinucleate. All the nuclei in my preparations 
(picro-acetic acid, Delafield’s haematoxylin) appear as rather loose 
masses of chromatin granules (see fig. 17). Other slightly stained 
bodies are also present in the endoplasm. They appear to be the 
bodies which Metcalf calls ‘““endosare spherules,” and which occur 
in other Cae 

is Ge Motoalf’s 8 (1909) recent monograph on on 1 the genus, 

