146 Mr. H. A. Bajlis on 



copulatory organ, wliile in tlie 'Terra Nova' case, and 

 probably in that now recorded, they were inhal)itinc^ tlie 

 ]-enal tubules. In the ' Terra Nova ' wliale some specimens 

 are also said to have occurred in the stomach (wall?), 



Mr. Hamilton has given * some interesting details as to tlie 

 disposition of the worms in the kidneys of B. physahis, which 

 I take the liberty of quoting : — " The worms are found partly 

 in the urinary tube system, partly in the interlobular tissue. 

 The point at which the worm passes into the uiinary system 

 is usually, if not always, situated in the wall of a calyx. The 

 extralobular part of the parasite is embedded in a jnass of 

 connective tissue, in which it has a very tortuous course. It 

 is probable that the presence of the nematode is responsible 

 for the growth of the tissue in the regions where it occurs, 

 since the connective tissue masses may be taken as indicative 

 of the presence of the parasites which they invariably 

 contain. '^ 



Assuming that the worms observed in all cases were 

 C crassicanda, we are now in a position to enumerate three 

 genera and five species of whales as tolerably well authenti- 

 cated hosts for this species, viz. : — 



1. B al cenopter a 2^^i 1/ sal us, 1j. (^ B. viusculus, ?iucit.). (Com- 



mon rorqual or tinner.) 



2. B. mnsculus^ L. (Blue whale or Sibbald's rorqual.) 



3. B. boreaHs, Lesson. (Northern rorqual, Hudolphi's 



whale, or 8ejhval.) 



4. Megaptera nodosa^ Bonn. ( = ^/. hoops = ]ll. longimana). 



(Humpback.) 



5. Ziplnus cavirostris. (Cuvier's whale.) 



It is a point of some importance that the last-mentioned 

 species is a toothed whale, all the others being baleen whales. 

 It would be premalure at ])resent to speculate on the probable 

 intermediate host (if any) of the worm ; but in considering 

 this question the fact that the parasite occurs in both groups 

 of whales would have considerable weight, since the nature of 

 their food differs widely. 



I am unable to find any definite reference to the possible 

 occurrence of this worm in a toothed whale, previously to the 

 present case. I am, however, again indebted to Dr. Harmer 

 for bringing to my notice the following interesting ])assage 

 from the writings of P. J. Van Beneden f concerning the 

 parasites of Ziphius cavirostris : — 



''On ne connait jiisqu^a present qu\in Cestode et un ver 



* Loc. cit. 



t " Ilistoire Naturelle des BaUnopteres,'^ Memoires Couvounes, Ac. 

 Pioy. de Belgifjue, xli. (1888) p. 93. 



