1874.] DR. T. S. COBBOLD ON NEW OR RARE ENTOZOA. 127 



had been laid open that I found any visible traces of parasitic disease. 

 From the lower opening of the crop downwards to the termination of 

 the small intestine the canal was more or less crowded with nematode 

 entozoa, all of them being referable to the above-named species. In 

 spite of this state of things, and notwithstanding, also, that the small 

 intestine was inflamed throughout (showing several large ulcerated 

 patches, which here and there measured fullv an inch in length), the 

 body or the pigeon exhibited no traces of emaciation. From this it 

 was evident that the parasites had developed rapidly, and that the 

 malady had a correspondingly rapid formation. The local distribu- 

 tion of the parasites themselves was especially noteworthy. One 

 specimen, two inches long, extended from the crop to the proventri- 

 culus. The cavity of this latter organ and also that of the gizzard 

 were crammed with worms, which completely blocked the passage 

 between the two. Three of the worms had also placed themselves 

 within the pyloric opening, their bodies partly lodging within the 

 upper part of the duodenum. The duodenum itself was crowded 

 with these Ascarides ; but their numbers somewhat decreased towards 

 the lower folds of the small intestine. I removed 36 worms from 

 the oesophagus, proventriculus, and stomach, besides 166 others 

 from the intestinal canal, thus obtaining a total of no less than 202 

 nematodes from this solitary avian bearer. Considering the com- 

 paratively large size of these entozoa, this high degree of infec- 

 tion must be pronounced remarkable. The largest female worms 

 measured 2| inches in length. One of the most interesting facts- 

 serving to exemplify a well-known habit of lumbricoid worms gene- 

 rally—consisted in the circumstance that two of the parasites had 

 succeeded in perforating the horny lining membrane of the gizzard. 

 The injuries had evidently been accomplished during the life of 

 the host, since the walls of the gizzard were inflamed opposite the 

 perforations made by the heads of the parasites. There was a little 

 half-digested and green food within the stomach, the debris of which, 

 when placed under the microscope, showed several characteristic 

 nematode ova. There were no free embryos anywhere discernible ; 

 neither had the development of the freed eggs proceeded beyond the 

 coarsely granular stage of yolk-segmentation. Free eggs were also 

 found both in the small and large intestine. The eggs measured 

 about -gfs inch by ^ inch in diameter (fig. 7). An admirable 

 description of the adult parasite has been given by Dujardin • but 

 since the published figures of Rudolphi, Goeze, and Bremser are 

 incomplete, I have thought it desirable to supplement them with 

 others. Thus fig. 8 gives a magnified view of the head of a small 

 female Ascams maculosa, and shows especially the crenulations or 

 transverse striae on the alee or lateral membranous appendages. These 

 are veritable annulations, or fine circular stria-, and not merely con- 

 tractions of the integument as some have supposed. Dujardin speaks 

 of the alee as scarcely visible ; but I always found them more or less 

 well marked and semielliptic in shape, as Rudolphi originally de- 

 scribed them. Another sketch (fig. 9) shows an enlarged view of 

 the tail of the male ; and, on the whole, this representation agrees 



