46 Mr. A. Macalister on the Presence of certain 



To these four I think we may add another group of organs 

 which seem as distinctly glandular as any of those above referred 

 to. These are present in the Ascaris dactyluris, Rud., a small 

 white Entozoon, which inhabits in enormous quantities the large 

 intestine of Testudo graca. In the interior of these parasites, 

 as I have elsewhere described*, the lowest part of the club- 

 shaped intestine exhibits a small dilatation, immediately inferior 

 to which it suddenly contracts into a narrow rectum, that passes 

 downwards and forwards to the anus, forming an obtuse angle 

 (re-entrant forwards) with the upper part of the alimentary canal. 

 Surrounding the constriction which marks the origin of the 

 rectum, are four small ovate or pyriform bodies, granular in 

 appearance, usually seeming as though solid, in other subjects 

 appearing slightly excavated. Their inner aspect is placed in 

 very close apposition to the wall of the gut ■ so that at first it 

 seemed to me as if they opened directly into the narrowed com- 

 mencement of the rectum ; however, when carefully examined 

 by reflected light, my friend Dr. Barker has shown to me that, 

 at least in some specimens, such is but an apparent and not a 

 real attachment, and that the true connexion between these oval 

 bodies and the intestine is by means of long fine ducts, which 

 open into that canal immediately above the anusf- Sometimes 

 these tubes pass from the inner or intestinal side of the glands ; 

 in other subjects the masses narrow into a somewhat flask-like 

 shape, and have their attenuated necks continuous with the 

 duct : in the former case the organs were globular, in the latter 

 they seemed rather pyriform. In another specimen the sacs 

 were calcarate, with their curved projecting spurs directed up- 

 wards and outwards. No appearance of nerves or nerve-ganglia 

 was visible in connexion with them ; and the lateral and antero- 

 posterior tegumentary lines dipped inwards to come almost into 

 contact with their outer coat. 



"Whether these bodies exist in other species of Nematoids or 

 not, I cannot say ; but, as far as my observations have extended, 

 I have not succeeded in finding either themselves or any notice of 

 such an organization elsewhere. In the species under consider- 

 ation, however, they are unmistakeably distinct and constantly 

 present; for out of many specimens examined by Dr. Barker 

 and myself, both separately and conjointly, we were able to de- 

 tect their existence in every individual. 



It would be difficult, if not almost impossible, to predicate as 

 to the exact nature of these bodies ; but I can only conceive of 



* " On the Anatomy of Ascaris dactyluris," read before the Dublin 

 Natural History Society, June 1865. 



t This, however, does not seem to be the invariable mode of attachment; 

 for 1 have tailed to find the duet-like processes in many individuals. 



