304 PROCEb DINGS OF SECTION D- 



Hill (Trans. Inter. Med. Congr. Austr. VII, 1905, pp. 367-8) in a 

 patient from Sydney. In Spencer's case the worms were asso- 

 ciated with abdominal tumours. In the latter case the patient 

 had never lived out of S3'dney. 



7. A reference in A.M.G. 1891, p. 361, to a cystic disease of the 

 liver resembling hydatids reminds one of Cysticercus tenuicollis, the 

 " water-ball " found in sheep, cattle, and pigs. 



8. Watson (A.M.G. 1906, p. 645) exhibited a large number of 

 larval cestodes to illustrate a paper by him on hydatids, but there 

 is no reason for incorporating them as records for Australia. 



Nematoda. — The greater number of helminth parasites of man 

 belong to the Nematodes, or roundworms. There appear to be 

 seven which have established themselves in the Commonwealth, 

 viz., Ascaris himbricoides, L. Oxyuris vermicularis L., TricJwcephalus 

 trichhirus L. {T. dispar Rud.), Filaria hancrofti Cobbold, Strongy- 

 loides intestinalis Bava}-, Agchylostoma diiodenale Dub., and Necator 

 americanus Stiles. In addition to these, a few others have been 

 met with, but the source of infection has been traced to be beyond 

 Australia. These include Filaria medinensis, F. loa, and Trichi- 

 nella spiralis. Filaria demarquayi has been doubtfully recorded 

 from New Guinea natives. 



1. The commonest in Australia is the small threadworm or 

 pin worm, Oxyuris vermicularis L., which occurs in all States. As 

 it does not usually cause much trouble its presence has been prac- 

 tically unrecorded. Cobb, in 1890 (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., V, 

 1890, p, 168), dealt with its life-history. In 1901 R. H. Russell 

 (Inter. Med. Jour. Austr., VI. 1901, p. 576) referred to a persistent 

 appendicular colic caused by threadworms (Melbourne). Johnston 

 mentioned the presence of this species in the various States (Proc. 

 Linn. Soc. N.S. Wales, XXXIV, 1909, p. 119— N.S. Wales ; ibid. 

 1910, p. 28 — Oueensland-South Australia ; Jour. Proc. Roy. Soc, 

 N.S.W., 1909,^3. XX— West Australia). 



2. Ascaris lumbricoides, L. — This intestinal parasite is found 

 occasionally in man throughout Australia, but since it rarely gives 

 rise to pathological conditions references in literature to its presence 

 in Australia are very scanty. Morphologically it closely resembles, 

 if it is not identical with, the roundworm, Ascaris suilla, of the pig. 

 It is possible that if these species are identical infections of man 

 may occur not infrequently from the pig, as for instance by means 

 of the ova adhering to a sausage-skin derived from pig, and the 

 ova not being killed by the cooking. Both the parasites have a 

 peculiar sweetish smell, which is very characteristic and enables 

 the species to be identified even in the dark. 



The first reference to the presence of this worm in Australia 

 occurs in a work entitled " Two Years in New South Wales " 



