976 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 860 



would be rare in a host like the squirrel, as the 

 squirrel 's food is of such a nature, consisting as 

 it does largely of nuts, that fseoal contamination 

 by carnivorous hosts of the adult worm would 

 only occur very rarely. 



Eeeently the writer has produced the larval 

 M. serialis in an American squirrel, Sciurus caro- 

 linensis, by feeding proglottids of the adult worm 

 from the dog. This proof that the squirrel may 

 act as host of M. serialis warrants us in accepting 

 Cobbold's and Cagny's cases without reservation. 



The squirrel was fed December 29, 1910, with 

 fifteen proglottids collected eight days before 

 from the feeces of a dog infected with the adult 

 M. serialis by feeding the larval form from the 

 rabbit. The proglottids had been kept in water 

 from the time they were collected. Superficial 

 examination indicated that some of the proglottids 

 were gravid and some were not. As the proglot- 

 tids were injected into the mouth the squirrel 

 stored part of them in the cheek pouches, but it 

 was certain that the rotten proglottids would 

 release some of the eggs and that these would be 

 swallowed even though the proglottids might be 

 rejected later. Ninety-two days after ingesting 

 the proglottids, the squirrel died. It had been 

 active up to two or three days before death and 

 had then remained down, clawing at its jaws 

 occasionally. Before the skin was removed, the 

 swellings on the abdomen, back and legs plainly 

 showed the presence of the parasite cysts. After 

 skinning the animal, the cysts were found on the 

 lower abdomen, the middle of the back, the right 

 shoulder and side, the right hind quarter, the left 

 thigh, the left hind quarter, the left calf and the 

 left breast, side and shoulder. An incision along 

 the abdomen did not disclose any on the viscera. 

 The thorax was not opened, and the specimen was 

 preserved intact except for two cysts which fell 

 out from a superficial position under the skin on 

 the abdomen. One of these was cut in two and 

 both cysts were put in the ice-box at a tempera- 

 ture of 12 to 14° C. for 44 hours. At the end of 

 that time they were immersed in warm water. 

 The one which had been cut in two showed no 

 sign of movement and was apparently dead. The 

 other cyst, which had been punctured and lost a 

 large part of the contained fluid, showed the eon- 

 tractile movements characteristic of bladder- 

 worms and was cut in two and fed to two dogs. 



The cysts showed the linear arrangement of 

 scolices which is often found in M. serialis and 

 from which the species takes its name. The iden- 

 tification of the parasite in this case is based less 



on this, however, than on the fact that it waa 

 produced by feeding the adult worm. 



The secretary read a paper by Mr. Foster en- 

 titled "Some Experiments in the Development of 

 Tmnia teniceformis (Bloch, 1780) Stiles and 

 Stevenson, 1905 ; with an Account of Coceidiosis 

 in the Cat. ' ' By feeding experiments the larval 

 parasite was developed in the rat from the cat 

 tapeworm and the cat tapeworm developed in turn 

 from these larvae. Attempts to infect dogs failed. 

 Some differences were found in the larval and 

 adult hooks. In general the results agreed with 

 those of earlier experiments. A coccidium found 

 in the cat proved to be much larger than Coccidium 

 bigeminum, the only form hitherto reported from 

 the eat. It resembled Eimeria stiedw in size but 

 differed from it in the piriform shape of the 

 oocyst and the absence of residual protoplasm. 



Dr. Garrison gave a demonstration of a new 

 intestine tray for autopsies. This consists of a 

 copper sheet 30 inches long, 10 inches wide at the 

 broad end and 5 inches wide at the narrow end, 

 with a raised edge an inch and a half high, and 

 with a steel rod attached to the raised edge where 

 it is prolonged along the broad end and running 

 above the tray to the narrow end where the rod 

 rests on the body of the tray, the end of the rod 

 curving downward over the narrow end of the 

 tray. At the ends the tray is bent down to form 

 vertical supports 6 inches long at the wide end 

 and 4 inches at the narrow end. The floor of the 

 tray is convex upward, the middle being about an 

 inch higher than the sides. In use the tray is 

 placed over two pails or jars with a slight slope 

 downward toward the narrow end, or else the tray 

 is stood up in two shallow dishes, the slope being 

 obtained by virtue of the greater length of the 

 vertical support at the broad end. 



The intestines are placed in the jar or other 

 receptacle at the lower narrow end of the tray 

 and one end of the intestine is pulled up on the 

 steel rod. The section of intestine held by the 

 rod is then cut open and falls on the floor of the 

 tray where it can be examined and washed, the 

 contents going into the lower jar. When one 

 section of intestine is examined it is placed in the 

 upper jar at the same time that a fresh section 

 is pulled on to the rod. The size of the rods 

 varies with the size of the animals examined. 

 To facilitate detection of parasites the tray should 

 be painted or enameled black. The tray can be 

 easily cleaned and sterilized. 



Maurice C. Hall, 



Secretary 



