224 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF *' WORM-NODULES " IN CATTLE 



Leiper (p. 7) does not definitely group all the- 

 Onchocerca worms producing nodules in cattle under one 

 species. He confines himself to stating that " this parasitic 

 condition is known to occur not only in Australia, but 

 also in the United States (Curtice ; Stiles), in the Malay 

 States (Daniels ; Ford), and in India (Lingard)." 



De Does (1904), Dood and Ouwehand* recorded the 

 occurrence of worm-nodules (worm-fibromata) in Javanese 

 cattle. 



In Nicoll's article (1911), there is a brief summary 

 regarding the parasite and the method of inspection of 

 meat in England in order to detect its presence. 



Quite recently an important paper by Gilruth and 

 Sweet (1911), entitled " Onchocerca gibsoni, the cause of 

 Worm Nodules in Australian Cattle," has been published 

 along with the greater part of our report (C. and J., 1910, c^ 

 d, e) by the Commonwealth Government. The work of these 

 authors has been frequently alluded to in the present 

 article. They corroborate our findings generally, and 

 give additional information regarding the anatomy of the 

 worm and the variation met with in the parasites, as well 

 as the early developmental stages of the embryos. Their 

 suc/gestion that lice may act as transmitters has been 

 already referred to. 



The Report of the Agent- General for Queensland in 

 London, 1910, has just been publisiied (Robinson, Sept., 

 1911), and in it he again refers to the question of nodules. 

 in beef, mainly from the commercial side. A brief article 

 will shortly appear in the Qveensland Agricultural Journal 

 (Johnston, 1911,6). There is also a brief reference made by 

 Tryon (1911), in the Annual Report of the Agricultural 

 Department, Queensland (1910-1911). 



In concluding this summary, one must emphasise 

 the fact that we need more definite knowledge regarding- 

 the means of transmission of the worm. " The elucida- 

 tion of the life-history of the parasite is the most important 

 part of the investigation of the disease. Until this is. 

 effected, no certain preventive measures can be framed 

 or put into force." (Nicoll, 1911). 



♦ The articles by Ouwehand and Dood (mentioned by Neumann^ 

 1910) are unknown to me. 



