170 LEAKED, ON A NEW PARASITE. 



undoubtedly lan^al flukes, and may therefore possibly be re- 

 ferable to one or other of the adult tremadode worms already 

 known to infest the common turtle. They present all the 

 general characters of a Distoma, The reasons which I have 

 for believing these flukes to be immature animals, are 

 grounded not only on the general larval-like aspect of the 

 specimens, but upon the circumstance that the sexual 

 organs are not yet formed, although there is a distinct 

 grouping of the cellular parenchyma in the centre of the 

 lower half of the body, such as would indicate the commenc- 

 ing development of a large pair of testes. Traces of the uterine 

 organs, on the other hand, appear to be altogether wanting. 

 Possibly I have overlooked them, because (as Professor J. P. 

 Van Beneden has shown to obtain in the larval condition of 

 Distoma militare) the development of the two sets of organs 

 usually occurs simultaneously, and the series of cells special- 

 ised for the purpose of developing both, display precisely the 

 same characters at the outset, though the male and female 

 organs difier so essentially in the mature state. There is one 

 more peculiarity in your preparations of this fluke which has 

 particularly struck me, namely, the unusual length and tor- 

 tuosity of the oesophagus, before it divides near the middle 

 of the body, into the two well-marked intestinal tubes. This 

 of itself would suggest to me the larval state of the animal, 

 but its length is comparatively greater than I have ever ob- 

 served in any other fluke, young or old. The oeosophageal 

 bulb is also carried remarkably low down, even to the point 

 where the canal bifurcates. The course of the two csecal 

 intestinal tubes is also worthy of remark, and their peculiar 

 manner of bending upwards, to form graceful curves on either 

 side, at once reminded me of the very similar arrangement 

 which Dr. Guido Wagener has shown to occur in an adult 

 fluke [Distoma xanthosomiim), infesting the gall-bladder of 

 the little Grebe [Podiceps minor) ." 



These immature worms being found in the heart, would 

 imply that they were in the act of migrating, as we can 

 hardly suppose the cavities of the organ to have been their 

 resting-place. 



It is an interesting circumstance that I found in blood 

 from the heart which contained the worms, and also in that 

 from another turtle's heart, certain minute fusiform ova, 

 represented by fig. D, as magnified 20 diameters. The same 

 kind of ova were found adhering to the conjunctivae of the 

 eyes of several turtles, by Mr. E. Canton, and as they have 

 been fully described by him in vol i, ncAv series, p. 40, of this 

 journal, do not require further notice. 



