138 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
of a capuchin monkey, others having been found by him in the 
thorax of an orang-utan. The distinguishing features of this 
nematode are its extreme length and nearly uniform thickness 
throughout, only slightly attenuated at the cephalic end, the caudal 
extremity, however, gradually tapering for about an inch, ter- 
minating in a fine point. 
Female longer than the male, 7 to 14 inches for the female. 
All the males which I examined were under 6% inches. A single 
female has been reported over 20 inches in length. The tail, as 
shown in the accompanying cut, is furnished near its extremity 
with three conical papilla. The actual extremity of the tail has 
an exceedingly minute prominence, with a centrally placed duct. 
Filaria immitis (Leidy).—The cruel threadworm of the Chi- 
nese has been found among our animals in a number of instances 
(sea-lions and wolf). While this Filaria is commonly found in 
man and dogs in China, and the East generally, it is not, however, 
unknown in America and Europe. It occasionally occurs in such 
large numbers in the right side of the heart and pulmonary artery 
of the dog that it is difficult to see how the circulation can pro- 
ceed. 
The Filaria immitis does not often betray its presence by any 
distinct recognizable systems during the lifetime of the infected 
animal; though its existence may be predicted on finding embryos 
on a microscopical examination of the blood. In the majority of 
instances the worms are found at the autopsy of animals which 
have died after various morbid manifestations. 
Death is usually sudden, or has only been preceded for an hour 
or two by dyspnoea and convulsions. Frequently the animal has 
exhibited for a variable number of days dullness, debility, local 
dropsies, and more or less frequent attacks of convulsions or epi- 
leptiform seizures. The immediate host of this parasite is still 
obscure, but from the prevalence of the disease appearing in coun- 
tries particularly rich in marshes and surface-water, the host 
might therefore be supposed to be some aquatic animal. 
It is interesting to note in this connection the occurrence of the 
parasite in our California sea-lions, that live exclusively on fish. 
The female worms are usually more numerous and of greater 
length than the males. Of the fourteen filariz found in the right 
ventricle of a sea-lion, only three were males. 
Several of the worms which I examined microscopically con- 
tained an enormous number of ova, enclosing embryos in various 
stages of development. Manson noted a habit of these embryos 
of abounding in the superficial blood vessels during the night and 
