-64 THE FILABIDAE 







esophagus atrophied; anus absent; long uterus containing 

 large numbers of free embryos fills most of body; vulva 

 near anterior end; male very poorly known; adult female 

 in subcutaneous tissue of host, producing superficial ulcers 

 through which embryos are extruded; larvae enter small 

 crustacean, cyclops, in water and reach man through inges- 

 tion of cyclops; distribution, Africa, Arabia, Persia, Turke- 

 stan, Hindustan, Fiji Islands; imported to South America, 

 but only present in a few places. 



D. Family Filaridae 



Long thread like nematodes; anus present; esophagus 

 without bulb; vulva in anterior half of body; two ovaries; 

 generally ovo viviparous; development requires a blood- 

 sucking insect as intermediate host. 



General discussion. A large numb'er of different forms 

 have been described from man as belonging to this family. 

 Some are known only in the microfilaria stage and some in an 

 immature stage to which the name agamofilaria is given. A 

 discussion will be given here only of those species which are 

 known in the adult stage, and for which the specific identity 

 seems to be certain. 



1. Filaria bancrofti. Worms whitish, long, filiform, cuti- 

 cula smooth; head globular, terminating in a simple, circular, 

 unarmed, lipless mouth, tail rounded. Male, length 25 

 mm. to 38 mm. width 0.12 mm.; tail curved or spiral; anus 

 0.13 mm. from posterior end; guarded by two projecting 

 lips; two unequal curved retractile spicules, larger, 0.6 mm. 

 and smaller, 0.2 mm. in length. Female, length 76 mm. 

 to 100 mm., thickness 0.18 mm. to 0.28 mm.; vulva about 

 1.2 mm. from anterior end. Adults live in lymphatic glands, 

 larvae (Plate VI, Fig. 3) in blood, appearing in peripheral 

 blood at night; intermediate hosts various species of mos- 



