202 DR. T. S. COBBOLD ON DISTOMA CLATATUM 



I'estomac de la Bonite ne vecut qu'environ deux heures. Expose 

 a I'air il etoit languissant, et reprenoit de la vivacite dans de I'eau 

 de mer. II dimiuua sensiblement de volume pendant qu'il vivoit 

 encore" *. M. Garsin's brief description is accompanied by three 

 figures, two of them giving a plan of the possible movements of 

 the head and neck, on the one hand, and of the body on the other, 

 the ventral sucker being the fixed point. His specimens do not 

 appear to have exceeded one inch and a half in length. 



In 1774, Pallas described a trematode under the generic and 

 specific names of Fasciola ventricosa. It measured two inches in 

 length ; but we are left in doubt as to whether it was obtained 

 from any fish. All that he says regarding its source is as follows : 

 — " Ex Amboyna missum fait singulare hoe molluscum, quod ad 

 aliud quam Easciolarum genus referre non potui, in quo quasi 

 gigas eriff. He remarks upon its pale white colour, and notices 

 particularly the soft elastic body proper, which when wounded 

 gave out a dark matter resembling soot. This material, when 

 examined with the microscope, appeared perfectly fresh, and was 

 not the result of decomposition. Pallas also gives many other 

 details respecting the structure of the parasite, accompanied by a 

 figure. 



In 1790, Menzies likewisB described and figured a fluke about 

 two inches long, which, though differing remarkably from the fore- 

 going in respect of shape, is nevertheless identical. His account 

 of the parasite is recorded in the first volume of the Linnean 

 Society's Transactions, and he calls it Fasciola clavata: — "It 

 is of whitish colour, somewhat pellucid, discharging at its mouth 

 a black-coloured fluid which can easily be perceived through its 

 body. I have often found it," he adds, "in the maws of the 

 Boneto, between the tropics in the Pacific Ocean" J. Notwith- 

 standing the similarity of description, Menzies does not appear to 

 have recognized the identity of his worm with that described by 

 Pallas. Professor Owen, however, subsequently established this 

 identity, and referred to the species as Fasciola clavata seu ven- 

 tricosa^. On the other hand, the British-Museum Catalogue 

 represents Pallas's worm as specifically distinct from that of 

 Menzies, but as identical with the specimen described by Pro- 

 fessor Owen from Mr. Guilding's collection. 



* Histoire de I'Acad. des Sciences a Paris, 1730, p. 44. 

 t Spicilegia Zoologica, Fascie. x. (1774) p. 18. 

 X Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. i. (1790) pp. 187, 188. 

 § Trans. Zool. Soo. vol. i. (1835) p. 382. 



