3GO I'AKASITKS <)F ANIMALS 



to Panceri, Von Siebold, Leuckart, and myself, most of us at 

 once agreed that the worm was new to science. Pointing t<> 

 the genera, Notocotylus and Aspidocotyliis, I explained its close 

 affinity to the latter more particularly. Whilst Notocotylus has 

 fifty supplementary suckers on its back, Aspidocotylus has nearly 

 two hundred small ventral suckers seated on a convex disk. 

 In Gastrodiscus a still larger number of suckerlets are placed 

 in the deep concavity of a large gastric disk formed by the 

 outstretched and inrolled margins of the body of the parasite. 

 Zoologically speaking, the odd thing about this singular worm 

 lies in the circumstance that its nearest fluke-relation, so to speak 

 (Aspidocotylus mutablis), dwells in a spiny-finned fish (Cata- 

 phractus) ; and this fish itself forms an aberrant genus of the 

 family to which it belongs (Triglidae). From what has been 

 said it will be seen that our Gastrodiscus must not be confounded 

 with Cotylegaster cochleariform (or with its synonym Aspidog aster 

 cochleariformis) , to which parasite Von Siebold was, I believe, 

 induced to refer it. Like most of the true amphistomes, the 

 worm in question infests the intestines. Although discovered by 

 Sonsino at Zagazig in plague-nffected corpses, there is no reason 

 to suppose that this helminth was in any way etiologically 

 connected with the Egyptian epizooty. 



The tapeworms of the horse are of great interest practically. 

 Excluding Sander's Tania zebra, which was doubtless T. plicata, 

 at least five species have been described, but they may probably 

 be all reduced to two distinct forms and their varieties. Whilst 

 Taenia plicata acquires a length of three feet, the strobile of 

 T. perfoliata never exceeds five inches. The lobes at the base of 

 the head in the latter are distinctive. The former is usually 

 confined to the small intestine, but the perfoliate worm often 

 occupies the caecum and colon in great numbers. As regards 

 T. mamillana, I may say that neither Gurlt's descriptions nor his 

 figures are convincing. The worm is, I believe, identical with 

 T. perfoliata. In like manner, after going into the matter 

 with some care, I am accustomed to speak of Megnin's T. inerme 

 as T. perfoliata, var. Megnini, and of Baillet's T. innome as T. 

 perfoliata, var. Bailletii. I have examined great numbers of 

 equine tapeworms, but whether my determinations on this point 

 are correct or not, the case recorded by Megnin is of remark- 

 able interest. Clinically, indeed, it is not entirely unique, since 

 a somewhat similar case has been recorded by Mr Poulton. 

 In Megniu's equine patient the autopsy revealed the presence 



