344 DR. A. E, SHIPLEY ON [ Mar. 16, 
eges are those which we find in the ceca of the young grouse- 
chick. 
This, then, appears to be the ordinary life-history of Z'richo- 
strongylus pergracilis, but it is sometimes varied, and varied in a 
way which may have a bearing upon grouse-disease. We have 
seen that as a rule eggs with coiled-up larve leave the body of 
the bird, but we have also seen that free larvee have sometimes 
been found in the feces whilst still in the rectum. We have 
further discovered small nematode larve in the contents of the 
small intestine. These larve are more pointed than the larvee 
we have watched hatch out from the Trichostrongylus eges; 
still they may be the larve of this species*. Dr. Wilson has 
further found on one or two occasions both in the lungs and in 
the liver certain larval forms which resemble the larve we 
have artificially hatched out of the developing eggs of J. per- 
gracilis, and the larvee which we have found in the dejecta of the 
grouse. 
These larve are extraordinarily minute, and unless seen alive 
are very difficult to recognise even under a twelfth oil-immersion. 
Hence they have hitherto been overlooked by researchers who 
have necessarily had to deal with grouse that had been dead for 
many hours, often for days. If these larvee be in truth the young 
forms of 7’. pergracilis, then under certain—at present undeter- 
mined—conditions, they either proprio motu or carried by the blood- 
stream reach the two important organs, the liver and the lungs. 
The cavity of the alimentary canal is infested with bacteria, all 
very well in their place, but liable to become pathogenic if carried 
to other tissues and organs. It is improbable that these larvee 
with their smooth, dry, ‘‘ polished ivory” surface carry such 
bacteria adherent to their outside, but it is quite possible that 
feeding as they do on the fluid contents of the digestive tract 
they ingest such bacteria, and during their ‘‘ Wanderjahre ” deposit 
them undigested in just those organs where their pathogenic 
properties are most easily stimulated. 
Apart from the harm thus caused, the presence of the Tvicho- 
strongylus produces grave local troubles, such as inflammation, 
peritonitis, ulceration, &e., which will be dealt with by the patho- 
logists now working for the Inquiry. 
Gi.) SYNGAMUS TRACHEALIS von Sieb. 
The Red or Forked-Worm. 
We have found this common pest of the fowl-yard and 
heasant-coop but twice in the grouse. Probably their free and 
unconfined life, together with the comparative paucity of earth- 
* It is also possible, and perhaps more probable, that they are the young of 
Trichosoma longicolle Rud. 
